How do I get a unemployment tax number for my business in NYS?
I'm starting a small landscaping business and need to register for unemployment insurance with NYS Department of Labor. I know I need some kind of unemployment tax number but I'm completely lost on where to start. Do I apply online or do I have to go somewhere in person? What paperwork do I need to bring? My accountant mentioned something about registering within 20 days of hiring my first employee but I want to get this sorted out before I even start hiring.
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Omar Hassan
You need to register for an Unemployment Insurance Account Number with NYS Department of Labor. Go to labor.ny.gov and look for the employer services section. You'll need your Federal EIN number, business address, and details about when you plan to start paying wages. The registration is free and you should get your account number pretty quickly once approved.
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Freya Pedersen
•Perfect, thank you! Do you know if there's a minimum number of employees I need before I have to register?
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Chloe Anderson
just did this last year for my cleaning business!! super easy online, took like 15 minutes. make sure you have your federal tax id ready cause thats the main thing they ask for
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Diego Vargas
Actually in New York you need to register as soon as you hire your first employee, even if it's just one person. Don't wait - there are penalties if you register late. The NYS Department of Labor is pretty strict about the 20-day rule your accountant mentioned. You can register before you hire anyone though, which is smart planning.
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CosmicCruiser
•Wait really? I thought it was only if you had more than a certain number of employees. That's good to know before I hire my brother to help with my food truck!
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Diego Vargas
•Yep, even family members count as employees if you're paying them wages. Better to register early than deal with NYS Department of Labor penalties later.
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Anastasia Fedorov
I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at NYS Department of Labor when I had questions about my registration. Their phone system is absolutely terrible - kept getting disconnected or put on hold for hours. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real person at NYS Department of Labor in like 10 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Saved me so much frustration when I needed to verify my account details.
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Freya Pedersen
•Interesting, I've never heard of that service. Good to know there's a way to actually talk to someone if I run into issues.
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Sean Doyle
make sure u keep track of your payroll records from day 1. nys dept of labor will want quarterly reports and if ur missing documentation they can audit u. learned this the hard way when i forgot to file my first quarter report on time
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Arjun Kurti
Just want to add that when you register online, make sure you have your business formation documents ready too (like your Articles of Incorporation or LLC filing). They might ask for your NAICS code as well - for landscaping that's usually 561730. Also, once you get your unemployment insurance account number, you'll need to start filing quarterly wage reports even if you haven't hired anyone yet (you'd just report $0 wages). The deadlines are pretty strict so set up calendar reminders!
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Val Rossi
•Thanks for mentioning the NAICS code! I hadn't even thought about that. Quick question - do you know if there's a grace period for the quarterly reports if you literally have zero employees and zero wages to report? Or do they expect those $0 reports filed right on time regardless?
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Arnav Bengali
•@Val Rossi Unfortunately there s'no grace period - NYS expects those quarterly reports filed on time even if you re'reporting $0 wages. I learned this when I registered my consulting business but didn t'hire anyone for the first 6 months. Still had to file those zero-wage reports every quarter or face penalties. The due dates are usually the last day of the month following the end of each quarter so (April 30 for Q1, July 31 for Q2, etc. .)Better to be safe and file on time than deal with late fees!
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