What to do if you experience failed tax filings
A tax filing failure means the electronic submission was rejected by the tax agency. This usually happens due to setup issues with your Payroll Settings or Third-Party Authorizations (TPA/POA). Your action as an employer is often required to resolve the issue and get the filing resubmitted.
Important: Failed filings aren't displayed in your 7shifts Payroll account. If you suspect an issue, contact 7shifts Support for next steps.
Important: Your company is responsible for monitoring agency portals for penalties or missing payments. Address any immediate payment alerts directly with the IRS while any investigation with our team is ongoing. You can make secure business tax payments directly from your bank account at IRS.gov: Pay Business Taxes. If an overpayment is later confirmed, the agency will apply a credit. 7shifts doesn't cover penalties or interest related to missing or incorrect tax settings or late filings, as outlined in our Terms of Service.
Steps to resolve a failed tax filing
It is crucial to ensure your Payroll Settings and Third-Party Authorizations (TPA/POA) are accurate and up to date. Here are some steps you can take:
Double-check your setup by making sure your Payroll Settings are correct.
Confirm that all Third-Party Authorizations (TPA/POA) are properly signed and submitted.
Our support team will liaise with Check Technologies on your behalf to request a refile. Once the issue is remediated, you are responsible for directly paying the agency. When a filing fails, the taxes are refunded to you so you may pay the agency asap. More information on these refunds here.
You may also need to work directly with your tax agency or an accounting professional.
Note: Confirm that Check Technologies has TPA access for the current year and upcoming filing periods. Access can have a prescribed end date or extend indefinitely. Update or renew the access as needed.
Common Filing Failure Reasons
| Failure Reasons | What It Means | What You Need To Do |
|---|---|---|
| Applied For/Invalid Tax ID | The company has not registered for a tax ID number, or the one provided is incorrect. | Update the ID number in your 7shifts Settings. Pay the agency directly with the refunded payment. Request a refile by our team or file yourself using your Tax Forms & an accounting professional. |
| Already Filed | Your prior payroll provider has already filed on your behalf because you didn’t fully offboard with them. | Notify your previous provider to stop all activity. You will need to get a copy of the return they filed so an amended return can be completed. Once you receive a copy of the return, you will need to provide our support team with a copy so we can work with our processing partner on next steps, or you can work independently with an accounting professional. |
| TPA Failure | The Third Party Administrator (TPA) assignment was not completed or was done incorrectly. |
Finish the TPA assignment. If it’s a Power of Attorney (POA) failure, a new, signed POA is required. POA: Visit Payroll > Business Settings > Ensure you have signed the Filing Authorization. TPA: Then visit your relevant State Tax Portals and enable: 7shifts Payroll: Third Party Administrator Access (TPA). Request a refile by our team or file yourself using your Tax Forms & an accounting professional. |
| Inactive Account | The tax ID provided was not valid, or the tax agency has closed the account because of inactivity. |
You must validate the account number in 7shifts > payroll > business settings. If it’s correct, you need to contact the state agency to reactivate your account. After, contact support to reattempt the filing or file with an accounting professional. |
| One or More Prior Quarters is Missing | The agency won’t allow a filing because a previous quarter’s filing is missing. (Specific to Louisiana Unemployment) |
Either reach out to the agency to fix the registration date & remove the requirement, OR file for the missing quarter with an accounting professional. Our processor does not file for periods before your first quarter with 7shifts. |
| Invalid Tax Rate | The agency will not accept a return that has an incorrect tax rate. (Specific to Oklahoma) |
Immediately update the valid tax rate for the current year. After, contact support to reattempt the filing or file with an accounting professional. |
| Partial Failure/Invalid SSN | The agency rejected the filing because it contained an invalid Social Security Number (SSN). The employee associated with the invalid SSN was not reported to the agency. |
Get a valid SSN from the employee right away and then enter it into the Employee’s profile. Request a refile by our team or file yourself using your Tax Forms & an accounting professional. |
| Missing Historical Data | A state agency has rejected the return because it doesn’t reconcile with the tax payments they have on record for the quarter. |
Provide payroll journals/reports identifying what information was missed during the initial setup.
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