How to Update Payroll Tax Tables in QuickBooks Desktop

Updated 10/21/2026. Checked against Intuit's help articles.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll works out withholding from a tax table that Intuit updates during the year. An out-of-date table can withhold the wrong amounts. The update comes with an active QuickBooks Desktop Payroll subscription: Basic, Enhanced or Assisted.

What is the latest payroll update?

When we checked Intuit’s payroll news page on 10/21/2026, the latest was payroll update 22616, released September 22, 2026. It added new Maine withholding tables and Maryland family and medical leave (FAMLI) items. Intuit lists each new update on that page, linked under Sources.

Check your tax table version

Choose Employees, Get Payroll Updates.
Read the number next to “You are using tax table version”.
Compare it with the latest update on Intuit’s payroll news page. Payroll Update Info shows what your version contains.

Download the latest update

Choose Employees, Get Payroll Updates.
Select Download Entire Update.
Select Update. A message tells you when the download is done.

State unemployment insurance (SUI) rates are not part of the tax table update. Enter the new rate yourself when your state sends it.

When the payroll update fails

Most failed downloads show a PS error, such as PS032, PS033, PS036, PS101 or PS107. Intuit traces them to internet connection settings, a firewall blocking the update, or a damaged file in the CPS folder. The fixes, in Intuit’s order:

Check the payroll subscription. Close the company file and restart the computer. Open Employees, My Payroll Service, Manage Service Key, and confirm the service name is right and the status reads Active. Choose Edit to check the service key number, then Next; clear Open Payroll Setup and choose Finish. That downloads the full update again.
Register and update QuickBooks. Press F2 to see whether the license shows Activated, and register QuickBooks if it does not. Install the newest QuickBooks Desktop release, then download the tax table again.
Repair the program. Close QuickBooks, add a Windows Defender exclusion, and run Quick Fix my Program from QuickBooks Tool Hub (Program Problems). Then install the newest release and the tax table.

PS038: paychecks stuck as Online to Send

PS038 means paychecks are stuck with the status Online to Send. That stops payroll from running and the tax table from downloading. Intuit’s fix:

Update QuickBooks, back up the company file, and have your payroll service PIN ready.
Choose Employees, My Payroll Service, Send Usage Data (or Send Payroll Data), then Send All. If the send succeeds, try the payroll update again.
Still failing? Find the stuck paychecks: Edit, Find, the Advanced tab, with Detail Level set to Summary Only and Online Status set to Online to Send.
Run Verify Data and Rebuild Data, then try the update again.
If PS038 remains, open each stuck paycheck and toggle it: add a copy of its last earnings line, answer No at Net Pay Locked, save, then reopen it and delete the copy. Check that taxes and net pay are unchanged each time.

Payroll updates on hosted QuickBooks

On our QuickBooks hosting the steps are the same, because the update comes through your own Intuit payroll subscription. Keeping QuickBooks on the newest release, the second fix above, happens on our servers, where QuickBooks Update runs every night.

Learn it properly

This topic is one module of our QuickBooks Payroll Training, one of seven self-paced QuickBooks courses for bookkeepers and accounting staff.

Frequently asked questions

How do I update payroll tax tables in QuickBooks Desktop?

Choose Employees, Get Payroll Updates, select Download Entire Update, then Update. You need an active QuickBooks Desktop Payroll subscription.

How do I check my QuickBooks payroll tax table version?

Employees, Get Payroll Updates shows it next to "You are using tax table version". Compare it with the latest update on Intuit's payroll news page.

Why is my QuickBooks payroll not updating?

Intuit's usual causes are the payroll subscription or service key, an old QuickBooks release, and a firewall or damaged file blocking the download. PS038 has its own fix, for paychecks stuck as Online to Send.