Federal/State Employment Taxes (FSET)

Here is a list of software developers and payroll providers in the FSET program. If you choose a third party to file your returns, visit their website.

Intuit, Inc.
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP)
C&S Technologies, Inc.
Thomson Reuters
Business Software, Inc.

Aatrix Software, Inc.
Greenshades Software, Inc
MasterTax, LLC
Lewis Software Associates, LLC
Poppins Payroll, LLC

Note: This list is in the order that providers were approved and does not show a preference of any company. The Employment Development Department (EDD) and the State of California do not endorse these companies. If you use a payroll service or transmitter, you will need to buy their software or services.

To become an Approved e-File Provider, you must pass certification testing and fill out a Federal/State Employment Taxes Website Link Agreement (DE 548) (PDF).

Bulk Transmissions

The FSET program is an easy way to submit large bulk files for employment tax payments, returns, and wage information. Taxpayers who want to do bulk filings can choose to use the services of an Approved e-File Provider or develop their own application.

With FSET, employers can file taxes electronically and make payments using electronic funds transfer (EFT).

You can send the following:

• Payroll Tax Deposit (DE 88)
• Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages (DE 9)
• Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages (Continuation) (DE 9C)
• Quarterly Contribution Return (DE 3D)
• Report of New Employee(s) (DE 34)
• Report of Independent Contractor(s) (DE 542)

Payroll service providers can also use FSET to:

• Get their clients’ tax rates.
• Check their clients’ EDD employer payroll tax account numbers.
• Tell us when they start or stop representing clients.

Benefits of the FSET Program

The FSET program has the following benefits:

• Faster processing and response time.
• Secure application-to-application transmission.
• No mailing costs.
• Accurate reporting.
• Opportunity to correct errors.
• 24-hour availability, except for maintenance periods:
  • Every Friday from 6 p.m. to Saturday at 1 a.m., Pacific time.
  • Every third Sunday of each month from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Pacific time.

• Fulfills the electronic file and pay requirement.
• If your organization develops their own software, there is no cost to send your files to us.

If you want to create your own FSET program, follow these steps:

1. Read the instructions in the Federal/State Employment Taxes Implementation Guide (DE 545) (PDF).
2. Enroll in e-Services for Business to create your username and password.
3. Complete the Federal/State Employment Taxes (FSET) Enrollment (DE 547) (PDF).
4. After you register, you will get information for your certification testing.
5. Download the schemas and complete your certification testing. Once you pass, you will receive the production permission and URL.

Certification testing involves completing multiple test scenarios to make sure the system is set up correctly and that the acknowledgments (ACK1 and ACK2) are sent and received properly.

Go to the Federal/State Employment Taxes Implementation Guide (DE 545) (PDF) to learn more.

Note: Our staff will work with customers during the testing process to help resolve data and transmission issues.

The FSET program handles a large amount of tax data from multiple files. For the best results, do not send more than 10,000 employer returns per bulk transmission.

Yes, if you plan to use  an Approved e-File Provider to submit files directly to the EDD, you must complete and pass the Certification Testing. 

The Wage Plan Code shows the types of benefit coverage employees have for their Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance. It is connected to your employer payroll tax account number. This is a required element for each employee on the DE 9C.

Go  to Appendix T of the Federal/State Employment Taxes Implementation Guide (DE 545) (PDF) for more information.

• DE 9 - Include the NoPayrollAnnualElect tag with the value “X.”
• DE 9C - Include the NoPayrollElect tag with the value “X.”

Online

You cannot file an amended DE 9, DE 3D, or DE 9C by FSET. You can only use e-Services for Business to adjust a previously filed tax return or wage report.

Go to the tutorial Adjust a Tax Return or Wage Report (YouTube) for more information.

By Mail

You can complete and send the Quarterly Contribution and Wage Adjustment Form (DE 9ADJ) (PDF) by mail to:

Employment Development Department
PO Box 989073
West Sacramento, CA 95798-9073

Each file in a transmission is checked and an acknowledgment (ACK2) is generated for each file. If a file is rejected, the file status will be shown as “R” on the ACK2. It is your responsibility to correct errors for the rejected files and resend them. The ACK2 will include an error message for each error in the file. For a full list of error messages, refer to Appendices J through Q of the Federal/State Employment Taxes Implementation Guide (DE 545) (PDF).

We have the right to suspend any participant who does not follow the rules, guidelines, and procedures for FSET listed in the Federal/State Employment Taxes Implementation Guide (DE 545) (PDF) or any related rules. This includes participants who do not consistently submit correct returns.

If suspended, the participant will be notified of the requirements for reinstatement into the program.

Check the California Employer’s Guide (DE 44) (PDF) for due dates and settlement dates for DE 9, DE 9C, and DE 88 payments.

If you choose to pay DE 88 payments by FSET and have an ACH debit block on your bank account, you need to tell your bank of our Company Identification number to avoid your tax payment being rejected. The Company Identification number is a 10-digit number used to identify who started the transaction.

Our Company Identification number is: 2282533055

FTP is only used for sending and retrieving files. Web Services can return acknowledgements and errors and allows us to interact with our transmitters. This allows transmitters to fix their returns without help.

A bulk transmitter can use the FSET schema Version 4.3 for Data Exchange to get employers’ rates or payroll tax account numbers electronically.

Go to the Federal/State Employment Taxes Implementation Guide (DE 545) (PDF).