How do employer tax registration services really work?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Everyone commits a little identity theft from time to time.

There’s a problem with payroll taxes.

See, many tax agencies insist that the business owner be the one to do certain tasks related to state tax IDs.

Which might have been reasonable in, like, 1824.

But as remote work becomes more common, so do multi-state businesses.

When Amazon opens up a new warehouse in Bismark, ND 

or the first Apple Store opens in Cheyenne, WY, 

I PROMISE you that Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook aren’t the ones wrestling with the confusing registration forms and bad state websites.

Important people hire other people to do that stuff.

You don’t even have to be all that important to hire someone. 

Pretty much every business owner hires someone for this work.

Because it's unnecessarily annoying and easy to mess up.

It’s never a good use of time for the most important person in the business.

Someone on their team does it.

Or a lawyer.

Or a service. 

So what happens when something goes wrong or the company loses the login?

You call the state.

The state expects to speak to the business owner.

On the phone. Now.

Like you can just tap them on the shoulder and hand them the phone.

“Excuse me, Mr. Zuckerberg. Can you please talk to this guy Doug in Minnesota?”

That’s not a thing that happens.

Every single payroll professional runs into this:

Payroll vendors

Registration services

Bookkeepers

Fractional HR

Internal HR

Managed payroll services

Everyone.

Yes, you try to get power of attorney.

You try to get yourself added as an approved contact.

You try to create a login.

You try to play by the rules. 

But there’s always the occasional edge case.

You have a problem to solve.

The boss or the client will be mad at you if you come back to them for help on something so annoying and easy to mess up. 

That’s what they hired you for.

You already have all the right info: Their SSN, their home address, the last quarter’s gross wages.

Hell, the boss doesn’t even have half of this information.

So you find someone around the office who sounds like a Jack or a Jill…

Or you pick a company officer who might have a voice like yours…

…and you make the call.

Every time I talk to another payroll pro, I ask them how they solve this problem.

Everyone resorts to impersonation from time to time.

Every. Single. One.

There is something seriously wrong with a process that encourages identity theft as the cost of doing business.

—-

👋 I’m Richard Branson. Or maybe I’m Jeff Bezos. Or Willy Wonka.

Looking for an impersonator?