Toast Payroll: Chosen Names on Tax Filings and Paystubs

How do I talk to employees about chosen names in relation to tax information and payroll forms?

While Toast Payroll does allow employees to list their chosen or preferred names on their personal profiles, it's still very important for tax documentation and filing that an employee's legal name is listed in the system. Anything in the chosen name field will not be used on paystubs or tax filings.

Legal names must be recorded in the system to correctly allocate earnings to the Social Security number (SSN) that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has on file. The SSA matches the name and SSN on each Form W-2 against its database of all SSNs issued. When we find a match, we record the earnings information from the Form W-2 in the employee's earnings history. More information about legal names and SSNs can be found at https://www.ssa.gov/employer/critical.htm.

By default, if an employee has a chosen name on their Toast Payroll profile, the chosen name will sync to Toast Web. On the other hand, for Toast Web profiles, a chosen or different name than what is listed on the Toast Payroll profile will not sync over to or overwrite what is already on the Toast Payroll profile.

This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for advice.