Withholding Taxes: Rhode Island

Federal law and guidance on this subject should be reviewed together with this section.

Author: William E. O'Gara, Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O'Gara LLC

Summary

• Wages paid to Rhode Island residents who work in the state are subject to withholding. Rhode Island income tax must also be withheld from wages paid to Rhode Island nonresident employees for services performed in the state. See Withholding on Residents, Nonresidents and Expatriates.
• Rhode Island employers determine withholding using federal Form W-4 and state Form RI W-4. See Employee Withholding Forms.
• Withholding on supplemental wage payments, such as bonuses, is calculated differently depending on whether the payments are made simultaneously with, or separate from, regular wages. See Supplemental Wages.
• Each year employers must provide copies of federal Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, to each employee from whom any amount of Rhode Island income tax was withheld, or would have been withheld under the approved tables and other methods if the employee had claimed no more than one withholding allowance. See Form W-2 Requirements.
• Employers are required to keep records of wages paid and taxes withheld for three years. See Recordkeeping Requirements.