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Publication 911
(2/21)

Electronic Reporting of Quarterly Wage and Withholding
Tax Information Based on Federal Formats

The Tax Department will not accept amended information using
Table of contents Page federal specifications. Amended information must be submitted on
1 Introduction ....................................................................... 1 either Form NYS-45-X or Form NYS-45-ATT, according to the
2 Compatibility ..................................................................... 1 instructions, or by upload according to the specifications described
3 Filing requirements ........................................................... 1 in Publication 69.
4 Submission of test media .................................................. 1
5 Submission requirements ................................................. 1 Record retention
6 Technical specifications .................................................... 2 Employers/payers mustretain a copy of the uploaded files, or be
7 File formats ....................................................................... 3 able to reconstruct the data, for at least four years after the due
date of the report.

For calendar quarters beginning on or after January 1, 2021, there Penalties
will be a new Online Services application for employers, payers Failing to electronically file your quarterly wage reporting and
and/or agents preparing reports for employers/payers to upload withholding tax information may subject the employer/payer to
wage reporting bulk files. The new application will no longer penalties and delays in processing.
process wage upload files that contain errors, including employer
or employee data errors, formatting errors, and nonfatal errors. Section 4 – Submission of test media
The errors contained in the file will be displayed within the Web Employers, payers, and/or agents preparing reports for
application. All errors must be corrected before uploading the file for employers/payers, and filers electing to file via the upload, are
the file to be accepted. After submitting a file an email will be sent required to submit a test file using the format specified in this
for all successful and failed uploaded files. The file format in this publication. Test submissions should be submitted in the same
publication is not changing. format that will be used to submit actual return information.
Section 1– Introduction Transmitters will submit a test upload file using the Web application
This publication, which supersedes the 6/20 version, describes and receive immediate results on the success or failure of the
specifications, formats, and layouts for reporting quarterly employee file. Transmitters will no longer need to wait up to 30 days to be
wage reporting and withholding tax information using the Tax notified of the success or failure of a test file. Upon submission, the
Department’s Online Services at www.tax.ny.gov. Employers/payers transmitter will be notified within the Web application if the file is
must report wage and withholding information using the successful. If there are fatal errors contained in the file, the errors
specifications in this publication. will be displayed within the Web application. All errors must be
corrected before uploading the test file for the file to be successful.
While some information on wage reporting and withholding is
included in this publication, specific definitions and requirements Transmitters who plan on submitting information for more than a
are in Publication NYS-50, Employer's Guide to Unemployment single employer should include at least two employers with at least
Insurance, Wage Reporting, and Withholding Tax. 20 employee records for each of the included employers.

Section 2 – Compatibility Section 5 – Submission requirements
Formats previously submitted and successfully processed can Employers/payers submitting data via the upload must not
continue to be submitted without change. send the same data on paper. Agents reporting for one or more
employers/payers must advise those employers not to submit
separate reports to the Tax Department. Only one file is permitted.
Section 3 – Filing requirements
New York State requires employers to electronically file their The due dates for the employee wage reporting and withholding
quarterly wage reporting and withholding tax information. Wage data are:
reporting upload is one option available to electronically file Quarter Due date*
your information using the Tax Department’s Online Services January 1 to March 31 April 30
at www.tax.ny.gov. Using this option limits the potential for data April 1 to June 30 July 31
entry errors, simplifies filing for the employer, and streamlines July 1 to September 30 October 31
processing. October 1 to December 31 January 31
Effective January 1, 2019, employers/payers must report total * When the actual due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal
UI remuneration, gross federal wages or distribution subject to holiday, New York State Tax Law permits you to file on the next
withholding, and total New York State, New York City, and Yonkers business day.
tax withheld each calendar quarter for each employee/payee paid
during the quarter they are reporting for.
Section 6 – Technical specifications
Note: The amounts you report are only the amounts paid or All data records must have a fixed length of 512 bytes. Deviations
withheld within the quarter you are reporting. from the prescribed format are not acceptable.
For tax years 2018 and prior, employers/payers must report total Multi-volume media are not acceptable. Data can be compressed
UI remuneration paid to each employee each calendar quarter. On and/or zipped as needed.A properly composed file begins with a
the fourth quarter return (or the return covering the period in which Code RA record and ends with a Code RF record.
an employer permanently ceases to pay wages), employers/payers
must also report the cumulative total of gross federal wages or Transmitters for multiple employers must use consolidated files,
distribution subject to withholding and total New York State, New rather than a separate file for each employer or client of the
York City, and Yonkers tax withheld.

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Page 2 of 5 Publication 911 (2/21)

transmitter. Submissions that include multiple employers must be Money amounts
sorted in ascending EIN order.
– All money fields are strictly numeric.
Print files are not acceptable.
– Include dollars and cents with the decimal point assumed. Do
Data must be recorded in uppercase letters only. not use any punctuation in any field.
A properly composed file contains the following records in – Right-justify and zero-fill all money fields.
sequence:
– In a money field that is not applicable, enter zeros.
– Record RA – Transmitter record
– Record RE – Employer/payer record – Negative money amounts are not acceptable.
– Record RS (36) – State employee record – High-order signed fields are not acceptable.
– Record RU – Total record – In general, state quarterly UI remuneration must include wages
– Record RF – Final record (occurs only once after that are subject to Article 18 of the Labor Law. These wages
all employer/payer records) are the basis for claims for unemployment insurance benefits in
New York State.
Repeat records RE and RU for each employer in the file.
– In general, Gross federal wages subject to withholding is the
Note: only RS records containing a value of 36 in the State Code amount of wages subject to withholding tax.
field (locations 3 and 4) will be processed for New York State
purposes. – Total tax withheld is the sum of taxes withheld for New York
State, New York City, and the city of Yonkers.
The employer identifying number in New York State is primarily
the federal EIN with two exceptions: Employee/payee name formats – Left-justify the name, in
– temporary nine-character numbers beginning with TF are used uppercase only, and list the first name first. Separate all segments
until the federal EIN is assigned; and of the name, including each initial, by blanks.
– decentralized employers may apply for a location suffix to their Connect parts of a compound surname by a hyphen. Do not use
federal EIN. a blank to separate single letter prefixes (such as O or D) from the
rest of the surname; they may be separated by an apostrophe or
Wage reports – Beginning with tax year 2019, if the be contiguous with the rest of the name. Do not use commas to
employee/payee does not have any gross wages covered by separate names. Connect last name suffixes (such asJr,Sr , or
unemployment insurance in New York State, gross federal wages MD) to the last name with a hyphen.
or distribution subject to withholding, and New York State, New
York City, and Yonkers tax withheld in the calendar quarter you are If you have questions regarding technical specifications, call
reporting the employee/payee should not be reported. 518-457-7105.
If the employee/payee did not have any gross wages covered by
unemployment insurance, or if the employee is not covered by
unemployment insurance in New York State in the quarter you
are reporting, the UI remuneration paid this quarter field should
be zero-filled. However, if the employee/payee had gross federal
wages or distribution subject to withholding and New York State,
New York City, and Yonkers tax withheld in that quarter you are
required to report those amounts for each employee/payee paid
during the quarter.
For tax year 2018 and prior, if the employee/payee does not have
any gross wages covered by unemployment insurance in New York
State during quarters one, two, or three, then that employee/payee
should not be reported for those quarters. The fourth quarter
submission requires reporting of the total gross federal wages or
distribution subject to withholding and total New York State, New
York City, and Yonkers tax withheld for all employees/payees for
all quarters during the year. If the employee/payee did not have
any gross wages covered by unemployment insurance in the
fourth quarter, or if the employee is not covered by unemployment
insurance in New York State, the UI remuneration paid this quarter
field should be zero-filled.
Employers who are liable under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act
(FUTA) must include a separate employee record, for any employee
receiving these payments, reporting payments of severance pay
and the first six months of sick pay. This additional employee record
must be identified by entering a letter O for other types of wages at
position 243 of the RS record. Specific details related to these types
of other wages are available in Publication NYS-50.
All Gross federal wages subject to withholding and Total New York
State, New York City, and Yonkers tax withheld must be reported in
the RS employee record containing regular wages (that is, with the
letter W in position 243).

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                                                                       Publication 911 (2/21) Page 3 of 5

Section 7 – File formats

                               Record Name – Code RA – Submitter Record
Field                                      Location  Length Comment
Record identifier                          1-2     2  Constant RA
Submitter’s employer identification number 3-13    11 Transmitter’s federal EIN or NYS Tax ID    
(EIN)                                                 number; left justify and fill with blanks, no   
                                                      hyphens or spaces in the number
Blank                                      14-216  203
Submitter name                             217-273 57 Organization transmitting the file; left justify and  
                                                      fill with blanks
Location address                           274-295 22
Delivery address                           296-317 22 Street address of transmitter; left justify and fill  
                                                      with blanks
City                                       318-339 22 Left justify and fill with blanks
State abbreviation                         340-341 2  Use standard FIPS postal abbreviation
ZIP code                                   342-346 5  Left justify and fill with blanks
Blank                                      347-395 49
Contact name                               396-422 27
Contact phone number                       423-437 15
Contact phone extension                    438-442 5
Blank                                      443-445 3
Contact email/Internet address             446-485 40
Blank                                      486-488 3
Contact fax number                         489-512 24

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Page 4 of 5  Publication 911 (2/21)

                                    Record Name – Code RE – Employer Record
Field                                    Location Length Comment
Record identifier                        1-2      2   Constant RE
Blank                                    3-7      5
Employer FEIN                            8-18     11  Employer’s FEIN or NYS Tax ID number; left justify and
                                                      fill with blanks, no hyphens or spaces in the number
Blank                                    19-39    21
Employer name                            40-118   79  Left justify and fill with blanks
Delivery address                         119-140  22  Street address of employer; left justify and fill    
                                                      with blanks
City                                     141-162  22  Left justify and fill with blanks
State abbreviation                       163-164  2   Use standard FIPS postal abbreviation
ZIP code                                 165-169  5   Left justify and fill with blanks
ZIP code extension                       170-173  4
Quarter and year being reported          174-178  5   Quarter and year being reported. Format should be  
                                                      QYYYY with Q values of 1, 2, 3, 4, and YYYY values  
                                                      being the tax year. Update each quarter.
Blank                                    179-512  334 

                                    Record Name – Code RS – Employee Record

Field                                    Location Length Comment
Record identifier                        1-2      2   Constant RS
State code                               3-4      2   Constant 36
Blank                                    5-9      5
Social Security number (SSN)             10-18    9   Omit hyphens
Employee first name                      19-33    15  Left justify and fill with blanks
Employee middle name or initial          34-48    15  Left justify and fill with blanks
Employee last name                       49-68    20  Left justify and fill with blanks
Suffix                                   69-72    4   Left justify and fill with blanks
Blank                                    73-202   130
State quarterly UI remuneration          203-213  11  Wages subject to UI in New York State; right justify, 
                                                      zero fill, dollars and cents, implied decimal
Blank                                    214-242  29
Wage type                                243      1   Wages type identifier. Applies only to quarterly    
                                                      wages. Enter letter W for regular wages and letter   O
                                                      for other wages (see NYS-50 for more information)
Blank                                    244-275  32
Gross federal wages or distribution      276-286  11  Wages, tips and other compensation subject to   
subject to withholding                                New York State withholding tax; right justify, zero fill,  
                                                      dollars and cents, implied decimal
Total NYS, NYC, and Yonkers tax withheld 287-297  11  NYS, NYC, and Yonkers income tax withheld (lump sum);  
                                                      right justify, zero fill, dollars and cents, implied decimal
Blank                                    298-512  215

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                                                                         Publication 911 (2/21)    Page 5 of 5

                                     Record Name – Code RU – Total Record

Field                                    Location  Length Comment
Record identifier                                    1-2   2  Constant RU
Number of RS records                                 3-9   7  Enter total number of RS records for this   
                                                              employer; right justify and zero fill
Blank                                              10-512  503

                                     Record Name – Code RF – Final Record

Field                                    Location  Length Comment
Record identifier                                    1-2   2  Constant RF. This record is only included to  
                                                              indicate end of file  
Blank                                              3-512   510

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