Commercial Employer-Individual Owners, Co-Ownerships, General Partnerships
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.
Wages paid to certain family employees are excluded from UI, ETT, and SDI but are subject to PIT:
- Individual Owner employing spouse, parent(s) or minor child(ren)
- Co-Ownership employing minor child(ren)
- Partnership (consisting of siblings only) employing parent(s)
Registration Requirements
To register for an employer payroll tax account number, gather the following information:
- Name and Social Security number of all responsible parties (Individual Owners, Co-Owners, and General Partners).
- Physical business address and mailing address.
- Business phone number
- Valid email address (contact person and business).
- Date of first payroll when wages exceed $100.
- Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). A FEIN can be obtained by going to the IRS website.
- Industry Description - What is the industry, product, or service that represents the greatest portion of your sales or revenue?
- Previous EDD employer payroll tax account information, if applicable.
- Business Name of Organization – enter exactly as it appears on your official documents (i.e., income tax returns, licenses, partnership agreements, contracts).
- For General Partnerships, use the exact Legal Business Name as spelled and registered with Secretary of State (SOS), if registered with SOS.
- Doing Business As (DBA) or Partnership Name.
- Name, phone number, address (if different from physical business or mailing address) for the business contact personn.
Optional
If you elect to enroll in Unemployment and Disability Insurance Elective Coverage, have the following documents available as you complete your registration for an employer payroll tax account number.
- Application for Unemployment and Disability Insurance Elective Coverage for Employees Exempted Under the California Unemployment Insurance Code (DE 1378) (PDF)
- Selection of Financing Method by a Non-Profit Organization Described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (DE 1SNP) (PDF)
How to Register for an Employer Payroll Tax Account Number
Use e-Services for Business to apply for your employer payroll tax account number. It is fast, easy, secure, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
1 - Create a username and password.
- Go to e-Services for Business.
- Select Enroll.
- Enter the required information to create a username and password 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.
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)
- Specialized Coverage (Elective Coverage for Exempt Workers) (DE 231SC)
- Multi-State Employment (DE 231D)
- Family Employment (DE 231FAM)
- Exempt Employment (DE 231EE)
Additional Information Sheets are available online at Payroll Taxes – Forms and Publications.