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The Mandate Monitor

MyCTSavings: what employers must do

In effectChecked November 9, 2026Run by Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller

Short answer

Connecticut requires employers with 5 or more employees that don’t offer a qualified retirement plan to register for MyCTSavings, the state’s automatic individual retirement account (auto-IRA), or certify an exemption. The original enrollment waves closed in 2023, and newly eligible businesses are notified each summer with a registration deadline (August 31 in 2023 through 2026). Since July 1, 2025 the Comptroller can fine noncompliant employers up to $500, $1,000 or $1,500 a year, depending on their size, after a series of notices, and enforcement was scheduled to begin in 2026.

Does your payroll handle MyCTSavings? See the free state route and the 5 payroll systems with help docs that cover it.

MyCTSavings deadlines

No future dates on file. Past dates are listed below.

Dates already passed (10)
  • : Registration deadline for newly eligible businesses notified in 2026. (5+ employees)
  • : People who receive state-funded personal care attendant services become qualified employers for their attendants (attendants qualify after 30 days).
  • : First automatic 1% increase in savers’ contribution rates appears on employer payroll reports starting January 2026.
  • : Registration deadline for businesses newly notified in July and August 2025. (5+ employees)
  • : P.A. 25-30 takes effect: civil penalties for noncompliant employers, and automatic 1% annual increases in the default savings rate.
  • : Registration deadline for businesses newly notified in July 2024. (5+ employees)
  • : Extended deadline for all previously notified employers, and deadline for about 11,000 newly eligible businesses notified in summer 2023. (5+ employees)
  • : Original registration deadline for the third enrollment wave (businesses with 5–24 employees).
  • : Notice letters went to about 30,000 Connecticut employers in early April 2022, starting the employer rollout.
  • : Pilot program began in October 2021 with a small group of employers.

What employers have to do

  1. Watch for the MyCTSavings notice with your Access Code, then register or certify an exemption by the deadline in it.
  2. Upload your eligible employees (19 or older, employed at least 120 days). The program contacts them directly and gives them 30 days to opt out or change their elections.
  3. After the 30-day window, start payroll deductions for employees who stay in and send contributions as soon as possible, no later than 10 business days after each payroll.
  4. Keep the roster current: add new hires, mark people who leave, and apply rate changes employees make.
  5. Don’t contribute or match, and don’t give investment advice. Employers have no fiduciary role in the accounts.

Handling MyCTSavings in payroll

The free route: register directly with the state

You can register and report on your own through Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller. You’ll still need your payroll to send the employee contributions each pay period.

Payroll systems with a help document covering MyCTSavings

SystemWhat the documentation saysLink
ADP RUNThe MyCTSavings help center lists a 360-degree integration for ADP Run that runs through Payroll Integrations, a third party that charges employers a monthly fee. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for ADP RUN
GustoGusto’s auto-IRA help article lists MyCTSavings among the state programs that integrate with Gusto through Vestwell, which adds a "Vestwell State IRA" deduction to payroll. Read their help doc, Nov 8, 2026See plans for Gusto
Paychex FlexThe MyCTSavings help center describes a 360-degree integration with Paychex Flex (Select and Pro) that receives contributions from payroll and sends employees’ savings-rate changes back. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for Paychex Flex
QuickBooks PayrollThe MyCTSavings help center describes a 360-degree integration with QuickBooks Online Payroll (a QuickBooks Online plus Payroll subscription) that receives contributions from payroll and sends employees’ savings-rate changes back. That help center lists QuickBooks Online Payroll as supported and doesn’t mention Workforce plans. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for QuickBooks Payroll
Square PayrollThe MyCTSavings help center lists a 360-degree integration with Square Payroll; employers request it by emailing their Square Payroll representative. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for Square Payroll

Listed alphabetically. We may earn a commission from these links; it never decides who’s listed.

How MyCTSavings works

Default is 5% of gross pay into a Roth individual retirement account (IRA), rising by 1% each January until it reaches 10%. Employees can opt out of the increases, pick any whole-number rate from 1% up, or opt out entirely during their 30-day notice period or any time after.

Free for employers. State law bars employer contributions and says employers can’t be required to fund or collect program fees. Savers pay an asset-based fee of about 0.23% plus a $26 annual account fee.

Questions employers ask

Who has to follow MyCTSavings?

Employers (for-profit or nonprofit) that had 5 or more employees in Connecticut on October 1 of the prior year, at least 5 of whom were paid $5,000 or more in taxable wages that year, that existed for all of the current and prior calendar years, and that don’t offer a qualified retirement plan. Covered employees are 19 or older and have worked for the employer at least 120 days. Since July 1, 2026, people who receive state-funded personal care attendant services also count as employers for their attendants.

How do employers get an exemption from MyCTSavings?

Employers that maintain a qualified plan (such as a 401(k), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP), SIMPLE or defined benefit plan) or another arrangement the Comptroller approves are exempt, but must certify the exemption online with the Access Code from their MyCTSavings notice and their Employer Identification Number (EIN) at myctsavings.vestwell.com/exempt. A plan only counts if it is active: the Comptroller can treat a plan as not maintained if no new participant has been eligible to join and no contributions have been made since the start of the previous calendar year.

What happens if an employer doesn’t comply?

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-425(c), as amended by P.A. 25-30 § 4 (effective July 1, 2025), the Comptroller sends at least two notices of noncompliance and then a final notice. For each year an employer stays noncompliant 90 or more calendar days after the final notice, the Comptroller may assess a civil penalty of up to $500 (5–24 employees), $1,000 (25–99 employees) or $1,500 (100 or more employees). The program said enforcement would start in 2026, tentatively mid-year, after more notices.

Everything employers in Connecticut must do ·Retirement mandates in every state

Sources

  1. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 31-416 to 31-429 (ch. 574), as amended by P.A. 25-30
  2. Employer program details and next deadline, MyCTSavings (Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller) (read Nov 7, 2026)
  3. MyCTSavings Program Description (July 2025), MyCTSavings / Vestwell (read Nov 7, 2026)
  4. Saver program details (fees and default rate), MyCTSavings (read Nov 7, 2026)
  5. Conn. Gen. Stat. chapter 574 (revised to January 1, 2025), Connecticut General Assembly (read Nov 8, 2026)
  6. Public Act 25-30 (SB 1221), approved June 9, 2025, Connecticut General Assembly (read Nov 9, 2026)
  7. Comptroller launches third wave of enrollment (January 11, 2023), Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller (read Nov 7, 2026)
  8. Comptroller extends registration deadline to August 31, 2023 (April 5, 2023), Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller (read Nov 7, 2026)
  9. Over 11,000 newly eligible businesses notified (August 3, 2023), Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller (read Nov 7, 2026)
  10. MyCTSavings Registration Deadline August 31, 2024 (program e-blast), MyCTSavings (read Nov 7, 2026)
  11. MyCTSavings Compliance Information and 2025 Annual Enrollment (July 2025 e-blast), MyCTSavings (read Nov 7, 2026)
  12. MyCTSavings Compliance to Begin in 2026 (November 2025 e-blast), MyCTSavings (read Nov 7, 2026)
  13. 1% Annual Increase for Savers (January 2026 e-blast), MyCTSavings (read Nov 8, 2026)