Employer guideRead at source September 28, 2026

Arizona New Hire Reporting: Deadline, What to Report and How to File (2026)

Arizona employers must report each new hire, rehire or return to work within 20 days to the Arizona New Hire Reporting Center, online or by fax or mail. Private employers do not have to report independent contractors; governmental agencies do. There is no penalty: A.R.S. 23-722.01 says it does not allow the state to penalize employers for failing to report, though the duty to report still applies.

Arizona new hire reporting at a glance

Arizona follows the 20-day federal schedule set out in our new hire reporting requirements guide. Two things set it apart: the statute expressly withholds penalty power from the state, and the contractor rule applies to public employers but not private ones.

Arizona's reporting deadline

Under A.R.S. 23-722.01, "Employers shall submit the reports within twenty days after the employee is hired or rehired or returns to work." The Center describes the electronic alternative as two monthly transmissions not more than 16 days apart. The date that drives the clock is the one the statute asks you to report: "the date the employee first performed services for pay." The Center's form labels it "Date of Hire (First day of work)."

That date is the one that slips in frontline hiring. A call center in Phoenix that hires a class of 20 agents for a Monday start will usually see a few of them start later in the week, or the following week. Each report should carry the day that person actually worked, which is also the day the 20 days begin.

What goes on an Arizona report

The statute requires the employee's name, address and Social Security number, the employer's name, address and federal tax identification number, and the first day of paid work. The Center's reporting page lists:

• Required, employer: FEIN (the one used on quarterly wage reports), corporate name, and the address where income withholding orders should be sent.
• Required, employee: full name, mailing address, Social Security number, date of hire, and state of hire if you report as a multistate employer.
• Optional: employer phone, contact name and email, and whether medical insurance is an employee benefit; employee date of birth, wages and pay frequency.

The Center's paper New Hire Reporting Form marks the employer contact name as required, so fill it in if you use the form. The statute also tells the Department of Economic Security to "eliminate all unnecessary reporting" to reduce the burden on employers, which is why the optional list stays optional.

Filing with the Arizona New Hire Reporting Center

Register on the Arizona New Hire Reporting Center site to key in a few hires by hand, or upload a file. The Center accepts fixed-width text, Excel, tab-delimited text and CSV files, and publishes layouts and templates for each. It asks employers setting up a file upload to contact it to arrange a test read first. Files can also go by SFTP or on a CD-R mailed in a protective envelope.

On paper, the statute accepts a W-4 "or an equivalent form" by first class mail, fax or other means. The Center accepts its New Hire Reporting Form, a W-4 with the employer name, FEIN and address written at the top, or a printed list in at least 10-point type. When faxing W-4s, its flyer says not to include a fax cover sheet.

Fax: (888) 282-0502. Mail: Arizona New Hire Reporting Center, PO Box 10, Ridgeland, MS 39158. The help desk at (888) 282-2064 is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Arizona time.

Contractors: a public-sector rule

The Center's FAQ answers the 1099 question this way: "Governmental agencies must report independent contractors they hire and all other employers may provide the same information on their independent contractors if they choose." The federal Office of Child Support Services guide says the same. For a private employer, contractor reporting is optional. For a city, county, school district or state agency, it is required.

No state penalty for late reports

Arizona's statute is direct on this point. Subsection K reads: "This section does not allow the department to impose penalties on employers for failing to comply with this section's reporting requirements." The only civil penalty in the section, $1,000 per offense, applies to state employees or agents who disclose new hire information without authorization.

The absence of a penalty does not make reporting optional. The statute still says employers "shall" report, and the Center says it mails notices to employers who appear non-compliant, using a quarterly federal report. The statute also lets the data be used for child support, benefit fraud prevention and Medicaid (AHCCCS) eligibility checks.

Rehires and returning seasonal staff

The statute requires a report when an employee is "hired or rehired or returns to work." The Center defines the rehires it wants as employees returning after being laid off, furloughed, separated, granted leave without pay or terminated "for at least 60 consecutive days," matching the federal definition. Its flyer lists seasonal employees and "employees returning to work after a period of absence" among those to report. Temporary agencies report a worker once, then again as a rehire after a break in service.

Catching up, or taking over a business

Two FAQ answers help employers who find a gap. If you have never reported, the Center says to start with every employee hired in the last 180 days and then report each new hire within 20 days. If you acquire a business, employees the previous owner already reported do not need to be reported again, but anyone hired after the takeover does; when you cannot tell what the previous owner filed, the Center suggests reporting everyone hired in the last 180 days.

Multistate employers

If you employ people in two or more states, you can register with the federal Office of Child Support Services and report all hires electronically to one state; the Center links the registration form from its forms page. The steps are on our new hire reporting guide.

Hiring in Arizona

Read alongside our Arizona labor laws hub, the Arizona minimum wage page, and our guides to Form I-9 and E-Verify requirements by state. Boostpoint runs Facebook and Instagram job ads for frontline employers. Our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta) put the national median at $13.88 per applicant in advertising cost; there is no Arizona breakout.

Frequently asked questions