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September 19, 2025
Question

Quickbooks Online payroll tax overpayment

  • September 19, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 16 views

My client is new to QBO.  She filed and paid her own payroll taxes the first quarter she was in business, then got everything entered into QBO, she thought, so that QBO would automatically file and pay her payroll taxes and forms. The following quarter, QBO gave her a warning that they had attempted to file and pay her state unemployment but could not. The warning said she was supposed to file and pay manually (the wrong tax id was entered in QBO).  She filed and paid manually, then entered the corrected tax ID in QBO.  HOWEVER, QBO went ahead and paid the unemployment tax again.  Now there is an overpayment, and we just need QBO to acknowledge that credit and not pay the next quarter of state unemployment tax.  She called QBO and was told that she needs to request a refund from the state.  That seems ridiculous, as it would be much faster to just apply the overpayment to the next quarter and not pay the amount accrued.  There should be a way to enter that in QBO...please, community, give me some guidance. The state is VERY slow at refunding overpayments and EXPECT you to just apply it to the next quarter. Very frustrating.

1 reply

Level 8
September 19, 2025

Hey, @GingerTexas

 

It's great to see you back in the Community! I hate to hear that this payroll tax overpayment is causing issues for your client. 

 

Yes, that's correct. If you'd like a refund of that overpayment you'll need to get in touch with your tax agency. 

 

If you want to apply the overpayment to next quarter or request a refund instead, follow this link to complete the steps in the product

 

  1. Tap Payments
  2. Look for the Overpaid tax, then choose Resolve. If you don't see the Resolve option, you'll need to get back in touch with our Customer Support Team. 
  3. Select one of the following if available: 
  • Request a refund (Not that you'll need to contact your tax agency to get your refund)
  • Apply to a future tax payment 

       4. Press Confirm, then Done

       5. Contact the IRS or your state agency to request refunds or apply taxes to future periods. 

 

 

I hope this helps answer your question and gives you some other options to get this resolved. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. We're always here to help! 

September 22, 2025

It does not answer the question I posed...QBO does not see that there is an overpayment because the payment she made was not made through the payroll tax module...only the payment QBO made (which was the duplicate payment) is listed under payroll tax payments.  So there is not a "resolve" button.  This happened 9 months ago and she has since reconciled her bank account with the duplicate payments clearing her bank in January 2025.  QBO should have a way to give her a refund of their duplicate payment...at lease give her back what the have taken for this current quarter as she DOES NOT OWE for this quarter.  QBO has made all this more complicated because they take the taxes out of their customer bank accounts with every paycheck, rather than waiting until the tax is actually due to be paid...a sneaky cash influx for QBO, in my opinion.

Tori B
QuickBooks Team
September 22, 2025

Thank you for checking back with us, @GingerTexas.

 

For this one, I recommend reaching out to our Payroll Team for more insight. Our team can review your client's account in a secure environment and investigate this matter further. 

 

You can use the steps below to connect with our team directly:

 

  1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online.
  2. Select HelpImage Alt Text(?)Image Alt Text Help. This opens the Help page.
  3. Choose how you want to contact support:
    • Assistant tab: Enter Talk to an expert to get options for expert help.
    • Search tab: Select Contact Us to connect to an expert for help.

 

Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with. Take care!