Federal Payroll Taxes
Circular E (Pub. 15) Withholding, Deposits, Penalties and FUTA, plus Florida Reemployment Tax
IRS Publication 15 (2026), Circular E, as published on irs.gov (read 2026-09-19); F.S. 443 current text. The DBPR reference list cites Circular E without an edition — dollar figures below are the 2026 figures. · Reviewed 2026-09-21
"Complying with Payroll and Sales Tax Laws" is worth 6–8 questions on the Business exam — the biggest single business subject. The reference is IRS Circular E (Publication 15), which the Contractors Manual reprints. Learn the rates, the two deposit schedules, the $100,000 rule, the penalty ladder, FUTA, and the Florida reemployment-tax basics.
1. Who is an employee — Pub. 15 section 2
- Common-law test: a worker is your employee if you have the right to control what will be done and how it will be done — even if you give them freedom of action. What the parties call the relationship does not matter.
- People in an independent trade who offer services to the public (doctors, lawyers, and the like) are generally not employees. Corporate officers who work in the business are employees of the corporation.
- (Florida's workers' compensation law applies its own, stricter rule on construction sites — see lesson fl-ins-01.)
The rest of this lesson is for members.
The rest of this lesson, its quiz, all 2 lessons in this module and every mock exam open with the 7-day pass for $9. If you keep going, that $9 comes off lifetime.