Why won’t deductions withhold from employee pay checks?

In support we see cases where deductions are not being withheld from employee pay checks unexpectedly. I would like to share with you a list of reasons and setups that can cause this to happen.

Check the Employee Deduction Maintenance window for the following setting: (Cards > Payroll > Employee > Deduction)

2. Is the ‘Transaction Required’ option marked? If it is, then the deduction will not automatically be taken, and you must enter a transaction for the deduction in a batch.

3. The date in the Start Date field has not been reached. Example: Today’s date is 04/17/2020 the Start date = 04/17/2021.

4. The date in the End Date field falls before the beginning date of the pay run the deduction would not be included. No date in end date field.

5. The deduction was not based on a Pay Code that is being included on this check run. The deduction will show on the Build Check and Calculate Check reports, but the Calculate Check report will show the amount as $0.00 Based on all pay codes.

6. Verify that the deduction is not marked as inactive.

7. Look under the Maximum Deduction area to see if any maximums have been reached.

8. Under Deduction Tiers, is Multiple selected? Click the Tiers button and make sure that an amount is entered, other than $0.00.

After verifying the settings above are correct, I would recommend checking the following areas: 

9. You may not be including the deductions in the Build Payroll Checks window. (Transactions > Payroll > Build Checks). This would only apply if the deduction is not marked as Transaction Required. Is included.

10. If you have a minimum net pay amount set up for the employee, (Cards > Payroll > Employee > Additional Information button) and the deductions brings the net pay below the minimum net pay set up, the deductions that are sequenced last will not be taken.

11. If the deduction brings the pay to a negative amount, it will not be taken.

12. Check to see if the tax settings are mismatched between the deduction and the pay codes for the Employee. For example, if the deduction is set to be TSA sheltered from FICA taxes, but the employee does not have any pay codes that are subject to having FICA taxes taken on them, then the deduction will not be taken. Review for Federal Tax, FICA Tax, State Tax and Local Tax settings between the deduction and the employee's pay codes used in the pay run.

13. Are they using any of Integrity Data’s products where you join two deductions together for 1 maximum?  Usually this is for a 401K.

14. Are you using GP’s Ded/Ben Shared Limit HR & Payroll > Setup > Payroll > Ded/Ben Shared Limit Setup?

• When a deduction/benefit group code is saved in the Ded/Ben Shared Limit Setup window, the shared yearly maximum will be applied to all employees who are assigned to those deductions. Each deduction or benefit can be assigned to one group code. All deductions/benefits under the selected column will be subject to the shared calendar year maximum.
• If an employee is assigned only one or some of the deductions/benefits under the selected column, they will still be subject to the shared calendar year maximum assigned in the Ded/Ben Shared Limit Setup window.

I hope this information will help guide you in assessing why a deduction is not being withheld from an employee’s paycheck.

Terry Heley 

Microsoft