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Every STE calculation follows the same two-phase pattern: you configure all of the inputs for a paycheck, then you calculate and read the results. Configuration gathers the location codes, tax IDs, wages, benefits, and options that describe the payroll scenario; calculation runs the engine against that configuration and returns the withholding amounts. Nothing is computed until you have finished setting up the inputs.

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The workflow

Location and tax resolution come first — converting addresses into location codes and querying the STE for the applicable Unique Tax IDs. That groundwork, and the model behind it, is covered in How the STE Works. This page picks up from there, at the configure-then-calculate phase.
1

Configure the calculation

Set up everything the engine needs for the paycheck:Because returned taxes are only potentially applicable, this is where you exempt any tax that doesn’t apply — or simply leave it out.
2

Calculate and read results

Run the calculation. Retrieve the amount withheld for each tax, along with the gross, subject, and taxable wage amounts, and use those values in your system to determine the employee’s net pay.

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Two ways to configure

Hosted API

Configuration and calculation happen in a single request: you build a JSON payload describing the full scenario and POST it to the engine, then read the response.

On-premise SDK

You can build up the configuration with the SDK’s setter methods, or send the same JSON request body used by the hosted API directly to your local installation.

Sending JSON to the on-premise SDK

Send hosted API request bodies straight to a local installation.

Reading a calculation result

What comes back per tax, and how to consume it.