Guides a Colorado employer through the full payroll compliance cycle: state income-tax withholding (4.40% flat rate, DR 1094/DR 1093 annual reconciliation), SUTA premium reporting on the $24,800 wage base via My UI Employer+, and FAMLI premium collection and remittance at 0.9% through CDLE-FAMLI. Covers new-hire setup, periodic deposits, quarterly SUTA filings, W-2 preparation, and year-end reconciliation.
Establish the employer's payroll accounts before the first paycheck. Register for Colorado income-tax withholding through CDOR Revenue Online, obtain a Colorado Account Number (CAN), register for SUTA through My UI Employer+ to get a UI employer account number and the initial experience rate, and enroll in CDLE-FAMLI. Confirm whether the business qualifies as a construction-industry employer (NAICS 23xxxx), which triggers a higher SUTA new-employer rate.
Collect and process the required federal and state withholding elections for each new employee. Obtain a completed federal Form W-4 and, where the employee's Colorado withholding differs from the federal calculation, a DR 1098 Colorado Employee Withholding Certificate. Determine each employee's filing status, dependents, and any additional withholding amounts. Apply the 4.40% flat rate against the DR 1098 Worksheet result to compute per-period Colorado withholding.
Run each payroll cycle, compute gross-to-net for every employee, withhold Colorado income tax at 4.40% and the employee FAMLI share (0.45% up to the $176,100 Social Security wage-base cap), and deposit Colorado withholding on the correct cadence. Quarterly filers deposit by the last day of the month after each quarter; monthly filers by the 15th of the following month; weekly filers within three business days of the triggering payroll. Remit FAMLI premiums quarterly to CDLE-FAMLI.
At the end of each calendar quarter, file the Colorado UI Premium Report and Wage Report through My UI Employer+. Report each employee's gross wages for the quarter, identify which wages fall within the $24,800 per-employee annual taxable wage base, compute the SUTA premium at the employer's published rate plus the 0.22% Support Surcharge, and remit payment. Due dates are April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31.
After the final payroll of the calendar year, prepare federal Form W-2s with correct Colorado state wages (Box 16), Colorado state income-tax withheld (Box 17), and state ID (the employer's CAN). Complete the DR 1094 Annual Reconciliation of Income Tax Withheld to confirm total Colorado wages paid and total Colorado tax withheld matches the sum of all periodic deposits. File the DR 1093 Annual Transmittal of State W-2s (or the combined DR 1094/DR 1093 workflow in Revenue Online) by January 31.
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