Tennessee Employer Compliance Kit 2027: State Checklist, Deadline Calendar and Excel Tracker

Who it is for

Owners, office managers and bookkeepers who run payroll for employees working in Tennessee, a state with no income tax to withhold, from the first hire to the year-end forms.

Not the right fit if

Your employees work outside Tennessee: get that state's kit, or the 2027 Employer Compliance Bundle for several states. Not a payroll service, and not a legal review of your policies.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Tennessee data files, checked November 2026 against 19 official pages, among them TDLWD: Tax and Insurance (employers); Tennessee DLWD: UI Tax Rates; Tennessee DOR: GEN-34, Income Tax Withholding; Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: New Hire Reporting; Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Required Posters; Employment Verification, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development; U.S. Department of Labor: State Minimum Wage Laws (updated November 5, 2026); U.S. Department of Labor: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (revised July 1, 2026), plus FindLaw Codes (a vetted secondary source, marked in the kit) where no official page could be read.
• Every checklist item is confirmed and linked to its source: an official page, or where none could be read, a vetted secondary source marked as such.
• The workbook recalculates with zero formula errors and dates the Tennessee new-hire steps for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 19 confirmed Tennessee rules at a glance and the 0 items to confirm.
• Tennessee 2027 checklist. Eight steps from unemployment tax registration to year-end filing, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date, from Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Tennessee New Hire Reporting, Tennessee Bureau of Workers' Compensation. What it confirms: open a state unemployment tax account: TDLWD: register your business as a new employer on Jobs4TN.gov (Unemployment Employer e-Services); once you're liable for premiums the state assigns an eight-digit employer account number; taxable wage base for 2027: Not announced yet when we checked in November 2026; taxable wage base for 2026 (the latest published): $7,000 per employee in 2026; new employer tax rate: 2.7% for a new employer; quarterly wage reports and payments: TDLWD: quarterly wage and premium reports become delinquent after January 31, April 30, July 31 and October 31; state income tax withholding: No state income tax to withhold; report each new hire to the state: Within 20 days of the date they are hired (newly hired or rehired); e-Verify for private employers: Private employers with 35 or more full-time equivalent employees under the same FEIN must use E-Verify for new hires; minimum wage now (2026): No state minimum wage law, per US DOL; minimum wage change in 2027: No state rate; the federal $7.25 continues unless Congress changes it; tipped employees: Cash wage of at least $2.13 an hour in 2027, with tips making up the rest; paid sick leave: No statewide paid sick leave law for private employers; meal breaks for adults: A 30-minute unpaid meal or rest period for a shift scheduled for 6 consecutive hours; rest breaks for adults: no state rule; No breaks are required beyond the 30-minute period; breaks for workers under 18: Minors under 18 scheduled for 6 consecutive hours get a 30-minute unpaid break or meal period, not during or before the first hour of the day; workers' compensation insurance: Every employer with five or more employees; final pay when you let someone go: By the next regular payday after the separation or 21 days after it, whichever comes later; final pay when an employee quits: By the next regular payday after the separation or 21 days after it, whichever comes later; state copies of W-2s and 1099s: No state income tax, so there is no state 1099 or W-2 filing to make on the pages we opened.
• 2027 deadline calendar. 9 dates our Tennessee files state: 4 quarterly due dates from Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, with weekend dates flagged and a month-by-month planner for your own.
• New hire and pay change checklist. One page per hire, with the report to Tennessee New Hire Reporting (new hires reported in 20 days) and the I-9 steps, and one per pay change.
• Tennessee compliance workbook (Excel). The Tennessee dates in a deadline tracker with days left and status, a new-hire sheet that dates each step from the start date (new hires reported in 20 days), and a pay-change sheet that flags any rate below the 2027 floor.