New Hire Reporting in Texas: Complete Guide for Small Businesses
Texas new hire reporting: 20-day deadline, OAG portal walkthrough, contractor rules, penalties up to $25, and a step-by-step guide for small businesses.
Texas New Hire Reporting
Everything small business employers need to file correctly and on time
Every time you hire someone in Texas, you have 20 calendar days to file a new hire report with the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Miss that window and the state can charge up to $25 for that hire. It is one of the most commonly skipped compliance steps for small businesses, partly because it sounds bureaucratic and unimportant, and partly because nobody explains it clearly. This guide covers everything you need to file correctly: the portal, the required fields, the independent contractor rules, and the mistakes that cost Texas employers money every year.
I built FirstHR partly to solve compliance problems like this one: the tasks that are not hard, just easy to forget without a system. New hire reporting in Texas takes five minutes if you know what to do. The penalties for not doing it are small per incident but add up fast if you are hiring regularly without a process. For the complete federal I-9 verification requirement that also applies on Day 1, the USCIS Handbook for Employers covers all verification requirements in detail.
What Is New Hire Reporting in Texas?
New hire reporting is a federal requirement under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which mandates that every state collect new hire data from employers to help locate parents who owe child support. Texas designated its Office of the Attorney General, specifically the Child Support Division, as the agency responsible for receiving these reports.
When you file a new hire report, that data flows from the Texas OAG to the National Directory of New Hires, a federal database maintained by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. Child support enforcement agencies across all 50 states can then cross-reference this database to issue income withholding orders to employers nationwide.
The matching is what the deadline is for. A withholding order can only follow a parent to a new job once the new job shows up in the database, which is why 42 U.S.C. 653a sets an outside limit of 20 days and lets individual states shorten it. Texas sits at the federal 20.
This article focuses specifically on Texas requirements, deadlines, and the filing process.
Who Must Report and What's the Deadline
Every employer in Texas must report new hires, regardless of company size, industry, or how many hours the employee works. There is no minimum employee count, no minimum hours threshold, and no minimum pay threshold. If you hire one person to work for pay in Texas, you must report them within 20 calendar days of their hire date.
The 20-day clock starts on the date of hire, which the Texas OAG counts from the day the employee starts earning wages. This is not the date you made the offer, not the date they signed the employment agreement, and not the date of their first paycheck. It is the first day they physically show up and work.
Required Information: 7 Data Elements
Texas requires exactly 7 data elements for new hire reporting. Date of birth and state of hire both appear on the OAG's own Form 1856e, and both are marked optional. That makes Texas one of the simpler states for new hire reporting from a data collection standpoint.
The most common data entry error is a transposed digit in the Social Security Number. If an employee does not yet have an SSN because they are waiting for their card, file inside the window with the fields you do have and note that the number is pending. Once the card arrives, file an updated report carrying the number.
How to File: Step-by-Step Portal Walkthrough
The fastest and most reliable way to report new hires in Texas is through the OAG Employer Portal at employer.oag.texas.gov. The portal provides immediate confirmation, allows batch reporting, and keeps a history of all your submissions. Here is the complete walkthrough:
The portal also allows you to manage income withholding orders, update your employer information, and view submission history. Set up your account the first time you hire, not the week the deadline is approaching. Registration takes a few minutes and saves significant time on every subsequent filing.
All Filing Methods and When to Use Each
The OAG employer guide names four ways to send a report: internet, US mail, telephone, and fax. Electronic transmission sits on top of those for payroll teams and third-party agents. The online portal is recommended for the vast majority of employers. The alternatives exist primarily for employers with specific technical requirements or in the rare case that the portal is unavailable.
| Method | Where / Contact | Notes | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online portal | employer.oag.texas.gov | Fastest; confirmation number issued immediately; recommended for most employers | Recommended |
| Telephone | (800) 850-6442 | The OAG Employer Call Center takes new hire reports over the phone | Good backup |
| Fax | (800) 732-5015 | Send Form 1856e or a W-4; keep your fax confirmation as proof of submission | Slow; no confirmation number |
| ENHR Operations Center, PO Box 149224, Austin TX 78714-9224 | Accepts Form 1856e, a printed list, or a W-4 with the date of hire written at the bottom | Slowest | |
| Electronic transmission | Set up through the OAG employer portal | Filers who transmit electronically report twice a month, 12 to 16 days apart | Payroll teams and third-party agents |
If you fax or mail a report close to the 20-day deadline, build in buffer time. Neither method gives you a confirmation number, so a paper report is only as good as your own copy of it. For anything time-sensitive, use the portal and save the confirmation it issues.
Texas New Hire Reporting Deadlines
The standard deadline is 20 calendar days from the date of hire. Employers who transmit their reports electronically follow a different schedule set by the federal PRWORA e-filer rule.
| Filing Method / Type | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Employee, any filing method | Within 20 calendar days of the first day of work for pay | The OAG counts from the date the employee starts earning wages |
| Rehire | Within 20 calendar days of the return date | Anyone separated for at least 60 consecutive days is reported again |
| Independent contractor | Within 20 calendar days of the date the contractor first performs services | 1 TAC § 55.302 counts a reportable contractor as an employee |
| Filers who transmit electronically | Two transmissions a month, no fewer than 12 and no more than 16 days apart | The federal schedule in 42 USC 653a; Texas applies it the same way |
The e-filer schedule applies to payroll companies and employers who submit reports as electronic transmissions. For most small businesses filing individual reports through the OAG portal, the 20-day rule applies cleanly. The simplest approach: set a calendar reminder for Day 15 after every new hire to give yourself a 5-day buffer for any issues.
Texas New Hire Reporting Form: What to Use
Texas does not require a specific state form for new hire reporting. This distinguishes Texas from states like Ohio, which requires the JFS 07048 form. For paper filings the OAG names three things it will take: its own Form 1856e, a printed list of new hires, or a federal W-4 with the date of hire written at the bottom.
| Acceptable Form | Where to Get It | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Federal W-4 with the date of hire written at the bottom | IRS.gov or your payroll system | Accepted by the OAG; the employee already completes this on Day 1 |
| Form 1856e, the OAG new hire reporting form | texasattorneygeneral.gov (PDF) | Optional; adopted by reference in 1 TAC § 55.303 and accepted by mail or fax |
| Printed list of new hires | Your own format | Must carry all 7 data elements for every person on the list |
| Online portal submission | employer.oag.texas.gov | No paper form needed; data entered directly into the system |
If you would rather build the paperwork yourself, here is a sheet that already holds the 7 elements in the order the portal asks for them, with the deadline math and the confirmation number underneath. Fill it in on Day 1 and the filing itself becomes typing.
Because Texas has no state income tax, there is no state equivalent of a W-4 for tax withholding purposes. Employees in Texas complete only the federal W-4. This simplifies your Day 1 paperwork significantly compared to states like California, New York, or Ohio, which require both a federal and state withholding form. Texas employers are still subject to all federal wage and hour laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Independent Contractor Reporting in Texas
Texas requires new hire reporting for independent contractors. Family Code Section 234.101 defines an employee to include an independent contractor, and 1 TAC Section 55.302 narrows that to contractors whose income has to be reported on a Form 1099. The rule is old and still frequently misunderstood. Many online resources state that contractors are exempt from new hire reporting in Texas. They are not.
Note what the rule does not do. It sets no separate dollar floor for contractor reporting, and it asks no extra questions about the engagement. If the payment is one you will report on a 1099, the person behind it goes into the same 20-day queue as your employees.
The 7 required data elements for contractor reporting are identical to employee reporting. For the "employer name, address, and FEIN" fields, use your own business information. For the "date of hire," use the first date the contractor performed services for pay.
Texas Has No State Income Tax: What This Means for Onboarding
Texas is one of nine states with no state income tax. For employers, this meaningfully simplifies the onboarding paperwork stack compared to most other states.
| Requirement | Texas | Ohio |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting agency | OAG Child Support Division | Ohio New Hire Reporting Center (ODJFS) |
| Governing law | Texas Family Code Chapter 234 and 1 TAC § 55.302 | Ohio Revised Code 3121.89 to 3121.8910 |
| Portal URL | employer.oag.texas.gov | oh-newhire.com |
| Deadline | 20 calendar days from the first day of work for pay | 20 days from the contract or hire date |
| State income tax | None (no state withholding registration required) | Yes (IT 4 withholding exemption certificate) |
| Mandatory state form | No (W-4 or any document with the 7 fields is accepted) | Yes (JFS 07048) |
| Date of birth on the state form | Optional on Form 1856e | A field on JFS 07048 |
| IC reporting required | Yes, with no dollar floor (1 TAC § 55.302) | Yes, at $2,500 or more |
| Extra contractor fields | None beyond the 7 elements | Contractor flag, date payments begin, and expected length of engagement |
What this means practically for a Texas employer onboarding a new employee: you collect the federal W-4 and use it for both federal withholding and new hire reporting. You do not need to register for state income tax withholding. You do not need a separate state withholding account number. You do not need to complete any state-specific tax forms with your new hire.
The one Texas-specific registration that is still required is Texas Workforce Commission unemployment insurance tax. All Texas employers who pay wages must register with the TWC and pay state unemployment insurance (SUTA) tax. This is separate from new hire reporting and goes to the TWC, not the OAG.
Before your first hire, you also need a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) if you do not already have one. The IRS hiring guide covers the federal EIN and tax obligations every employer must satisfy before their first hire, and the IRS tells employers to keep employment tax records for at least 4 years, which is where your OAG confirmation numbers belong.
Penalties for Late or Missing Reports
Texas caps its new hire reporting penalties in Family Code Section 234.105, and the ceilings match the limits federal law allows a state to set. These are not criminal charges, but they do accumulate quickly if you have multiple unreported hires.
| Violation | Penalty ceiling | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Late new hire report (employee) | Up to $25 | Applies per occurrence, per hire |
| Missing new hire report (employee) | Up to $25 | Same ceiling as late filing |
| Late or missing contractor report | Up to $25 | Same ceiling as employee reporting |
| Conspiracy between employer and employee to avoid reporting | Up to $500 | Elevated ceiling; rare in practice |
A $25 ceiling is small per incident, but if you hire 10 people and report none of them, that is up to $250 on those hires alone. The penalty is also collected by suit from the attorney general rather than billed automatically, so the real cost of a sloppy process is the paperwork of explaining it. The easiest way to avoid all of it: treat new hire reporting as part of Day 1 onboarding and file within the first week rather than waiting for the 20-day deadline.
5 Common Mistakes Texas Employers Make
These five mistakes account for the majority of Texas new hire reporting errors and penalties. Each is preventable with the right process.
Your Texas New Hire Reporting Checklist
Use this checklist for every hire in Texas. Building it into your Day 1 process prevents missed deadlines and eliminates the risk of penalties.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I report new hires in Texas?
Report new hires online at employer.oag.texas.gov, the Texas Office of the Attorney General Child Support Employer Portal. Create an employer account with your FEIN, then select new hire reporting and enter the 7 required data elements: employee name, address, SSN, and date of hire, plus your employer name, address, and FEIN. The OAG also takes reports by phone through its Employer Call Center at (800) 850-6442, by fax at (800) 732-5015, and by mail to ENHR Operations Center, PO Box 149224, Austin TX 78714-9224. Paper filers can send Form 1856e, a printed list, or a federal W-4 with the date of hire written at the bottom. The online portal is fastest and is the only method that hands you a confirmation number on the spot.
How long do you have to report a new hire in Texas?
Texas employers have 20 calendar days from the date of hire to submit a new hire report. The OAG counts that window from the day the employee starts earning wages, not from the offer letter and not from the first paycheck. Employers who transmit their reports electronically follow a different rhythm: two transmissions a month, spaced no fewer than 12 and no more than 16 days apart, which is the federal schedule in 42 USC 653a. Independent contractors get the same 20 days, counted from the day the contractor first performs services for you. Rehires restart the clock as well, so anyone coming back after 60 or more consecutive days off your payroll is reported again.
What information is required for new hire reporting in Texas?
Texas requires 7 data elements for new hire reporting: the employee's full legal name, the employee's home address, the employee's Social Security Number, the date of hire (first day of work for pay), the employer's legal name, the employer's address, and the employer's Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). Date of birth and state of hire appear on the OAG's own Form 1856e, but both are marked optional, which distinguishes Texas from states that make them mandatory. The same 7 fields cover independent contractor reporting, with no extra contractor questions to answer.
What is the penalty for not reporting new hires in Texas?
Texas Family Code Section 234.105 caps the civil penalty at $25 for each occurrence where an employer knowingly fails to report a hire. Where the failure results from a conspiracy between the employer and the employee to skip the report or file a false one, the ceiling rises to $500 per occurrence. Both are civil penalties collected through a suit by the attorney general, not criminal charges, and neither escalates by the day. The exposure comes from volume instead: a shop that hires ten people and reports none of them faces up to $250 on those hires alone, and the arithmetic keeps compounding across quarters.
Where do I report new hires in Texas?
Report new hires online at employer.oag.texas.gov, the Texas Office of the Attorney General Employer Portal. This is the primary and recommended method. The OAG Child Support Division is the designated state agency for new hire reporting under the federal PRWORA law, and the reports it collects feed the National Directory of New Hires. Alternative methods are the Employer Call Center at (800) 850-6442, fax to (800) 732-5015, and mail to ENHR Operations Center, PO Box 149224, Austin TX 78714-9224. Do not send new hire reports to the Texas Workforce Commission. TWC administers unemployment insurance tax, which is a separate registration you also owe, but new hire data belongs with the OAG.
Do independent contractors need to be reported in Texas?
Yes. The Texas definition of a reportable employee covers independent contractors whose income has to go on a Form 1099, under 1 TAC Section 55.302, and they run through the same reporting system employees do. The deadline is the same 20 calendar days, counted from the day the contractor first performs services for you. The 7 required data elements are identical, so a contractor report asks nothing an employee report does not. Plenty of HR guides still say Texas exempts contractors from new hire reporting. They are wrong, and following them is how small employers end up with a stack of unreported engagements.
Does Texas have a state W-4 form for new hires?
No. Texas has no state income tax, which means there is no state income tax withholding form equivalent to a state W-4. When you onboard a new employee in Texas, they complete only the federal W-4, which covers federal income tax withholding. Texas is one of nine states with no income tax. However, Texas employers are still required to register with and pay into the Texas Workforce Commission for state unemployment insurance tax. The federal W-4 can also serve as your new hire reporting submission if you add the required employer information fields.
Is Texas new hire reporting required for part-time and temporary employees?
Yes. Texas new hire reporting applies to all employees regardless of how many hours they work, whether they are full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal. There is no minimum hours threshold or minimum pay threshold that triggers the requirement. Any person you hire to work for pay in Texas must be reported to the OAG within 20 calendar days of their start date. Rehires count as well: federal law treats anyone separated from your payroll for at least 60 consecutive days as newly hired, so a seasonal crew that comes back each summer generates a fresh report every year. Recalls from a layoff of 60 or more days work the same way.
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