15097: CA SDI Deduction (DAS)

Summary of California state disability insurance (SDI) setup:

1. Confirm that your client’s state is CA
2. Set the appropriate CA rates and limits for unemployment and disability insurance
3. Set up the CA SDI deduction
4. Assign the CA SDI deduction to employees

Detailed setup steps:

1. Confirm that your client’s state is CA at Client > Edit > Contact Information:



2. Set the appropriate state rates and limits for unemployment and disability insurance on the State Setup under Firm > Rates & Withholding Setup.
   1. Set, confirm, or correct CA Unemployment Information.
      If you have not previously entered this information, these fields display the 0.00 default setting. For current CA UI information, see the state's website at Unemployment Insurance (UI) Tax.
      • State Wage Base – The same State Wage Base is normally used for all CA employers and is set by the state. This information can be found on the state website. For unlimited, use 0.
      • State Unemployment Rate – The Unemployment Rate is determined by the state for each individual employer. The employer should receive the rate information for the upcoming year from the state between late November and the beginning of January.
   2. Set, confirm or correct CA SDI Information - State Disability Rate (SDI Withholding Rate), State Disability Wage Base (SDI taxable wage limit), and State Max SDI Amount (maximum to withhold for each employee). Drake Accounting^® defaults these fields to the most recent information available at the time the software is released based on the state code entered for the client setup (Client > Edit > Contact tab). For current information, see the state's website at State Disability Insurance (SDI) Tax.
   3. Click Save to save changes and exit the screen.
3. Set up the SDI deduction at Employees > Deductions & Benefits. Stay on the Deductions tab to create or edit a deduction.
   If you have not previously entered the CA SDI deduction, click New.  To edit an existing CA SDI deduction, double-click the deduction. Note that the deduction is based on after-tax income.
   • Name – Enter the name of the deduction (such as "CA SDI").
   • Account – Necessary if you are using the Bookkeeping function.
   • Amount – Enter the same percentage as in the State Disability Rate field on the Firm> Rates & Withholding Setup > State Setup.
   • Ceiling – Enter the same amount as in the State Max SDI Amount field on the Firm > Rates & Withholding Setup > State Setup.
   • Percent – Mark the Percent checkbox for the SDI calculation.
   • Fields concerning deduction after taxes, FUTA/SUTA/Garnish etc. – taxable settings must be determined by you and the employer.
   • Withholding Code – MUST be Disability Insurance.
   
   
   
   
4. Assign or confirm assignment of the CA SDI deduction to employees on the Employees > Employee Setup > Deductions tab. Complete this step for each employee.
   1. Double-click the employee and click the Deductions tab.
   2. Click the SDI line item.
   
   
   
   3. Click the arrow button to bring forward the default deduction amounts (Amount, Priority, and Ceiling) previously set up on the Employees > Deductions & Benefits > Deductions tab. Skip this step if you are editing a previously assigned deduction. The F3 function works only when you want to override data with the default values assigned to an employee that were changed.
   4. Verify the information is correct and edit as needed.
   
   
   
   5. SDI information is displayed on the right side of the window. Click Save to save the employee's deduction.
   6. After saving, return to step 4.a. for the next employee. Repeat for all applicable employees.