Commercial Employers-Corporations, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), Limited Partners (LP)
A commercial employer is a business connected with commerce or trade, operating primarily for profit and employs workers subject to California employment taxes. A commercial employer is responsible for reporting wages paid to their employees and paying Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Employment Training Tax (ETT) on those wages, as well as withholding and remitting State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) due on wages paid. A commercial employer can be one of these entity types – Corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), Limited Partners (LP).
Registration Process
During the registration process, you will be asked a series of questions. Gather the following information that applies to your business and have it available as you complete your application:
- Name and Social Security number of all responsible parties (CEO, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Member, Manager, Managing Member, General and Limited Partners).
- Name and federal employer identification number (FEIN) of all commercial owners serving as officers, members, partners (Corporations, LLCs, LLPs, LPs).
- Business location address and mailing address.
- Business phone number and email address.
- First payroll date wages paid exceeded $100.
- Nine-digit federal employer identification number (FEIN) - a FEIN can be obtained by going to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website.
- Industry Description – What is the industry, product, or service that represents the greatest portion of your sales revenue?
- Previous EDD employer payroll tax account information, if applicable.
- Legal Name of Organization
- Exact Legal Business Name as it appears on your official registration documents with the Secretary of State (SOS) (Corporations, LLCs, LLPs, LPs).
- California SOS ID Number (Frequently Asked Questions: California Secretary of State)
- Doing Business As (DBA), if applicable.
- Contact person’s name, phone number, email, and address (if different from business or mailing address).
Register for an Employer Payroll Tax Account Number
Enroll in e-Services for Business to register for your employer payroll tax account number. It's fast, easy, secure, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Step 1 - Create a username and password.
- Go to e-Services for Business.
- Select Enroll.
- Enter the required information and select Continue.
- Choose your security questions and answer each question, then select Continue.
- Review the Enrollment Summary and print a copy for your records, then select Submit.
- Select the verification link in the email we sent you to complete the enrollment process.
Important: If you do not verify your email address within 24 hours, you will need to restart the enrollment process.
Step 2 - Log in to e-Services for Business.
- Select New Employer, then select Next.
- Select Register for Employer Payroll Tax Account Number.
- Complete the online registration application.
- Select Submit.
Additional Resources
Information Sheets
- Employment (DE 231) (PDF)
- Specialized Coverage (DE 231SC) (PDF)
- Multi-State Employment (DE 231D) (PDF
- Exempt Employment (DE 231EE) (PDF)
- Limited Liability Entities (DE 231LLC) (PDF)
- Statutory Employees – Unemployment Insurance (UI), Employment Training Tax (ETT), and State Disability Insurance (SDI) (DE 231SE) (PDF)
- Payments to Corporate Officer (DE 231PC) (PDF)
- Types of Employment (DE 231TE) (PDF)
- Types of Payments (DE 231TP) (PDF)
Additional Information Sheets are available online at Payroll Taxes – Forms and Publications.