How to Choose a Payroll Company or PEO in Nevada

Payroll software, payroll services, and PEOs

Nevada runs payroll through two agencies, with no income tax to withhold and an excise tax on wages that most employers do not expect. Nothing comes out of the employee’s check for the state.

There are three kinds of companies to choose from, and what separates them is how much of the work they take on and whether they become a co-employer.

• Payroll software. You register with the Employment Security Division and the Department of Taxation, then run the system yourself. More on payroll and HR software
• A payroll service. Files under your own EIN and handles the state returns for you. More on payroll services
• A PEO. Carries workers’ compensation for your leased employees, bundles benefits, and takes on HR administration. Requires co-employment. More on PEOs

Nevada licenses PEOs through the Office of the Labor Commissioner and keeps unemployment with you. NRS 611.460(1) deems the client company the employer of its leased employees for the purposes of chapter 612, so a PEO does not move you onto its unemployment rate.

Payroll and PEO companies based in Nevada

A company based here files Modified Business Tax returns and unemployment reports every quarter, and works the same My Nevada Tax and Employer Self-Service portals you do.

Payroll and HR providers based in Nevada 26 results

Organization	Type	Headquarters	Coverage	Description
	PEO	Las Vegas, Nevada	50 states	Full-service PEO providing payroll, benefits administration, and workers’ compensation to small and mid-sized employers.
	Payroll service	Reno, Nevada	NV, CA, AZ	Regional payroll bureau handling processing, tax filing, and time tracking for multi-state employers.
	Software	Las Vegas, Nevada	50 states	Cloud payroll and HR platform covering onboarding, time tracking, and benefits enrollment.
	PEO	Henderson, Nevada	18 states	PEO offering co-employment, group health benefits, and HR compliance support across the Southwest.
	PEO	Sparks, Nevada	9 states	PEO serving small employers with bundled payroll, benefits, and risk management.
	Payroll service	North Las Vegas, Nevada	NV only	Payroll bureau focused on Nevada employers, including quarterly Modified Business Tax and unemployment filing.

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What Nevada costs an employer in 2026

Nevada employers pay unemployment insurance, a Career Enhancement Program surcharge, and the Modified Business Tax. All three are employer-funded, and none of them is withheld from wages.

The 2026 unemployment taxable wage base is $43,700, up from $41,800 in 2025. The base is set each year at 66.67% of the average annual wage paid to Nevada workers.

Take a clerical employee earning $60,000 a year at a 12-person Nevada company on the new employer unemployment rate. Quarterly payroll is $180,000, so $130,000 of it is above the Modified Business Tax exemption each quarter.

Social Security and Medicare are excluded because they are federal and identical in every state. The Modified Business Tax exemption is one $50,000 allowance per employer per quarter, so the per-employee share falls as payroll grows.

Modified Business Tax

The Modified Business Tax is an excise tax on wages, administered by the Department of Taxation. Every employer subject to Nevada Unemployment Compensation Law under NRS 612 is also subject to it.

General business employers pay 1.17% on quarterly gross wages above $50,000, a rate that took effect July 1, 2023. Financial institutions and mining businesses pay 1.554% on all wages with no exemption.

Gross wages include reported tips and carry no cap. Employers deduct amounts paid for health insurance or a health benefit plan, including dependent coverage, dental, and vision, provided the employer pays them. Where the deduction exceeds wages for the quarter, the excess carries forward to the next quarter.

The tax cannot be deducted from employee wages. Nonprofit organizations, Indian tribes, political subdivisions, and employers with only household employees are outside it.

Registering with the Employment Security Division registers you for the Modified Business Tax automatically. Returns are filed quarterly through My Nevada Tax and are due the last day of the month following the quarter, including quarters with no wages paid.

The Department resumed its Modified Business Tax Wage Comparison program on January 1, 2026. It cross-references gross wages reported on the tax return against wage data filed with the Employment Security Division, and a mismatch produces a deficiency determination with tax, penalties, and interest.

Unemployment insurance

Unemployment insurance is paid entirely by the employer and administered by the Employment Security Division. The 2026 taxable wage base is $43,700, and wages above it are reported but not taxed.

New employers pay 2.95% for 14 to 17 calendar quarters, depending on the quarter in which the business became subject to the law. After that the rate is set by the experience rating system and can run from 0.25% to 5.4%.

Every employer also pays a Career Enhancement Program tax of 0.05% on top of its unemployment rate. Employers assigned the 5.4% maximum are the one exception, so their total stays at 5.4% and no surcharge is added.

Rate notices post to the Employer Self-Service portal, and the most common first-quarter filing error is using the previous year’s rate. Contribution reports must be filed electronically under NAC chapter 612 unless the agency approves a waiver.

Federal unemployment tax applies on top at 0.6% on the first $7,000 per employee where the full state credit is available.

Minimum wage and overtime

Nevada’s minimum wage is $12.00 an hour, a single statewide rate that took effect July 1, 2024. Ballot Question 2, passed in November 2022, eliminated the two-tier system that had set a lower rate for employers offering qualifying health benefits.

The state allows no tip credit. Tipped employees receive the full minimum wage and keep their tips on top of it. The Labor Commissioner publishes one rate for the whole state each year.

The daily overtime rule

Nevada owes overtime after 8 hours in a workday as well as after 40 hours in a workweek, under NRS 608.018. The daily rule applies to employees earning less than 1.5 times the minimum wage, which is $18.00 an hour at the current rate.

Employees at or above $18.00 an hour get overtime after 40 hours in a workweek only. The daily rule also does not apply where the employee and employer mutually agree to four 10-hour days within a scheduled workweek.

The practical effect lands on scheduling and on payroll configuration. A system set up for the federal 40-hour rule alone will underpay a $16 an hour employee who works a 10-hour shift.

Workers’ compensation

Nevada requires industrial insurance from the first employee, with no headcount minimum, under NRS 616B.633. Coverage is bought from a private carrier authorized in Nevada or through certified self-insurance.

A PEO can carry the coverage for the employees it leases, and NRS 611.430 requires proof of premium payment and compliance with NRS 616B.692 at licensing. An insurer that cancels a PEO’s policy must notify the Labor Commissioner immediately.

A company operating both a PEO and a temporary employment service in Nevada keeps separate payroll records in the state and cannot cover both sets of employees under one workers’ compensation policy.

Can you run Nevada payroll yourself?

Yes, and Nevada is among the simpler states for it. No income tax withholding, no local taxes, no state disability or paid family leave program, and nothing withheld from employee wages for the state. Payroll software handles it for $6 to $25 per employee per month.

Find payroll software that fits your business

Two things trip people up. The daily overtime rule needs a system that evaluates hours per workday and not only per workweek, and the Modified Business Tax needs the employer-paid health premium tracked as a deduction, since skipping it means overpaying every quarter.

Full-service software files the quarterly unemployment report and the Modified Business Tax return for you. You stay legally responsible for the taxes either way.

A 12-person shop in Las Vegas

A 12-person restaurant supply company in Las Vegas pays four warehouse staff $16.50 an hour, six office staff on salary, and two drivers at $21.00 an hour.

The four warehouse staff and any hourly worker under $18.00 an hour are owed overtime after 8 hours in a workday. A 10-hour inventory day costs 2 hours at time and a half for each of them, whether or not the week reaches 40 hours.

The two drivers sit above the $18.00 threshold, so they are owed overtime only after 40 hours in a workweek.

Quarterly payroll of roughly $180,000 puts $130,000 above the Modified Business Tax exemption, which is about $1,521 a quarter at 1.17%. Employer-paid health premiums come off the wage base before the rate applies, so a company paying $250 a month per enrolled employee reduces the quarterly taxable amount by that spend.

Nothing in that stack comes out of an employee’s check. Nevada takes no income tax, no disability contribution, and no employee share of unemployment.

PEO rules specific to Nevada

Nevada licenses professional employer organizations through the Office of the Labor Commissioner under NRS 611.400 to 611.490. Senate Bill 55 in 2021 moved oversight there from the Division of Industrial Relations and changed the registration to a license. Operating without one is a misdemeanor.

What a licensed PEO files

• An application with the names, addresses, ages, and Social Security numbers of each partner or corporate officer, notarized and signed under penalty of perjury
• An issuance or renewal fee of $500, with the license expiring one year after it is issued
• Proof of industrial insurance premiums paid, chapter 612 contributions paid, compliance with NRS chapter 76, and benefit plan coverage from an insurer authorized under title 57
• An audited financial statement prepared under generally accepted accounting principles by an independent CPA, without qualification as to going concern. A new license needs one completed within 13 months of application, a renewal within 180 days of the fiscal year end
• Any change to the application information within 30 days of the change

A PEO without 12 months of operating history submits reviewed statements covering its entire history and must show positive working capital. Where it cannot, it posts a bond, irrevocable letter of credit, or securities equal to the maximum working capital deficiency plus $100,000, held to secure payment of taxes, wages, and benefits.

Unemployment reporting, and what you stay liable for

NRS 611.460(1) deems the client company the employer of its leased employees for the purposes of chapter 612. Your unemployment account, your experience rating, and your rate stay yours through a PEO relationship and after it ends.

The PEO is the employer for offering, sponsoring, and maintaining benefit plans. It cannot offer a self-funded insurance program, act as a self-insured employer, or join an association of self-insured employers.

Where a PEO fails to pay contributions, premiums, forfeits, or interest, or fails to submit required reports, the client company is jointly and severally liable for the amounts attributable to the wages of its leased employees. The Labor Commissioner can impose an administrative penalty of up to $5,000 for each failure, and an action for damages can be brought against any person required to sign the license application.

The employment relationship must be set out in a written agreement, and the PEO gives written notice of it to each leased employee. A 2021 change to the definition lets a PEO provide labor compliance services without leasing employees back at all.

Registration, filing, and deadlines

Registration with the Employment Security Division is the trigger for everything else. Registering there opens the Modified Business Tax account with the Department of Taxation automatically, and closing a business with the Division closes the tax account the same way.

Quarterly reports

Both returns are required in a quarter with no wages paid. Unemployment reports must be filed electronically under NAC chapter 612 unless a waiver is approved, with EFW2, CSV, Excel, and tab-delimited uploads all accepted.

Other requirements

• New hires are reported to the Employment Security Division within 20 days, and rehires within 60 days.
• Industrial insurance is required from the first employee, from a private carrier authorized in Nevada or through certified self-insurance.
• A state business license runs through SilverFlume and renews on the last day of the license anniversary month.
• Employers who paid Commerce Tax in the prior fiscal year can credit up to 50% of it against Modified Business Tax liability.

Nevada payroll reference

Rates and deadlines are current as of August 2026 and change annually. Verify against the linked source before filing.

Frequently asked questions

• Nevada has no income tax, so why am I paying a payroll tax?

  The Modified Business Tax is an excise tax on wages rather than an income tax. General business employers pay 1.17% on quarterly gross wages above $50,000, after deducting employer-paid health benefits. Financial institutions and mining businesses pay 1.554% with no exemption. It is employer-paid and cannot be deducted from employee wages.

• Who owes unemployment tax when I use a PEO in Nevada?

  You do. NRS 611.460(1) deems the client company the employer of its leased employees for the purposes of chapter 612, which is Nevada’s unemployment compensation law. Joining a PEO does not move you onto the PEO’s rate. If the PEO fails to pay contributions or file reports, you are jointly and severally liable for the amounts attributable to your employees’ wages.

• When does overtime start in Nevada?

  After 8 hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek for anyone earning less than $18.00 an hour, which is 1.5 times the state minimum wage. Employees at or above $18.00 an hour get overtime after 40 hours only. The daily rule does not apply where the employee and employer agree to four 10-hour days in a scheduled workweek.

• Do I need workers’ compensation for one employee in Nevada?

  Yes. Nevada requires industrial insurance coverage from the first employee under NRS 616B.633, with no headcount minimum. Coverage is bought from a private carrier authorized in Nevada or through certified self-insurance. A PEO can carry the coverage for leased employees, and it must show proof of premium payment to the Labor Commissioner at licensing.