Remote Payroll Tax Engineer: Compliance & Audits

PuzzleHR; Oregon; Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

PuzzleHR's Payroll Tax Engineer plays a key role in delivering our premium tax compliance service. You will review employee tax data for accuracy, ensure proper jurisdiction setup, and monitor registrations across federal, state, and local levels.

In this role, you will partner with Payroll Engineers to validate tax data, perform compliance audits, and generate client-facing reports for year-end readiness and W-2 related tasks. Strong attention to detail and Excel skills are essential.

Qualifications

• 3 or more years of experience in payroll tax, compliance, or payroll system configuration preferred.
• Deep understanding of U.S. payroll tax structures at federal, state, and local levels.
• Familiarity with tax registration processes and agency communications.
• Strong Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups, conditional formatting, etc.).
• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple clients and competing deadlines.
• Experience with major payroll systems and year-end processes is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Audit employee tax configurations for accuracy and correct tax codes.
• Review new hires and address changes for proper tax treatment.
• Manage tax registrations for state/local withholding and related taxes.
• Monitor system configurations for ongoing compliance with tax rules.
• Provide client-facing diagnostic reports and year-end reconciliation support.

Skills

Payroll tax

Tax compliance

Payroll systems

Excel

Attention to detail

Communication

Multi-client management

Tools

Smartsheet

Ticketing systems

Process tracking tools

Bloomberg Tax

CCH

Job description

PuzzleHR's Payroll Tax Engineer plays a key role in delivering our premium tax compliance service. You will review employee tax data for accuracy, ensure proper jurisdiction setup, and monitor registrations across federal, state, and local levels.

In this role, you will partner with Payroll Engineers to validate tax data, perform compliance audits, and generate client-facing reports for year-end readiness and W-2 related tasks. Strong attention to detail and Excel skills are essential.