Tag Archives: unemployment rate

What is the Taxable Wage Base?

What is the taxable wage base?

The taxable wage base is one of the key components in determining how much an employer will have to pay in unemployment taxes over the course of a year. Taxable wages vary from state to state, but generally there is a “cap” known as the taxable wage base, where an employer does not have to pay taxes on the money paid to an employee over a certain point. States determine the taxable wage base in different ways. Some use a formula or follow a certain percentage of each state’s average wages, while many follow the FUTA taxable wage base of $7,000 in 2017.

Below is a list of the taxable wage base in each state. You may notice that some states have much higher taxable wage bases than other states. These higher taxable wages are not always offset by a lower unemployment tax rate. Keep an eye out for states that adjust the taxable wage base each year. Those states are as follows: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey (lower for 2017), New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota (lower for 2017), Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Washington, and Wyoming.

StateTaxable wage base
Alabama8,000.00
Alaska39,800.00
Arizona7,000.00
Arkansas12,000.00
California7,000.00
Colorado12,500.00
Connecticut15,000.00
Delaware18,500.00
Florida7,000.00
Georgia9,500.00
Hawaii44,000.00
Idaho37,800.00
Illinois12,960.00
Indiana9,500.00
Iowa29,300.00
Kansas14,000.00
Kentucky10,200.00
Louisiana7,700.00
Maine12,000.00
Maryland8,500.00
Massachusetts15,000.00
Michigan9,000.00
Minnesota32,000.00
Mississippi14,000.00
Missouri13,000.00
Montana31,400.00
Nebraska9,000.00
Nevada29,500.00
New Hampshire14,000.00
New Jersey33,500.00
New Mexico24,300.00
New York10,900.00
North Carolina23,100.00
North Dakota35,100.00
Ohio9,000.00
Oklahoma17,700.00
Oregon38,400.00
Pennsylvania9,750.00
Rhode Island23,900.00
South Carolina14,000.00
South Dakota15,000.00
Tennessee8,000.00
Texas9,000.00
Utah33,100.00
Vermont17,300.00
Virginia8,000.00
Washington45,000.00
West Virginia12,000.00
Wisconsin14,000.00
Wyoming25,400.00
District of Columbia9,000.00
Puerto Rico7,000.00
Virgin Islands23,500.00

For more information about how taxable wages impact your unemployment expenses contact us today! One of our experts will be happy to help.

Vermont UI Tax Rate Notices Released!

Vermont Employers: The Vermont Department of Labor has mailed out UI Tax Rate Notices on June 23, 2017. These new rates will be effective for July 1, 2017 as the state of Vermont operates on a fiscal year for unemployment. This means that your new rates will be applied for your quarterly filing due on October 31, 2017. Below is the tax rate schedule for the 2017-2018 period. The schedule being used for this period is Schedule 4. The minimum tax rate is 1.1% and the maximum tax rate is 7.7%.

Tax Rate ClassSchedule 4
01.1
11.2
21.4
31.7
42.0
52.3
62.6
72.9
83.2
93.5
103.8
114.1
124.5
134.9
145.3
155.7
166.1
176.5
186.9
197.3
207.7

Keep in mind that the tax rates are not always correct on these tax rate notices. It is very important that all of the numbers in the tax rate calculation get audited. The state of Vermont has an overpayment rate just under 7% according to the DOL. If charges to your account are not closely monitored, you will see a dramatic increase on your tax rate notice!

For a no-cost analysis of your 2017-2018 tax rate notice, contact an expert at Dunn Corporate Resources. We’re always happy to help!

How do Benefit Charges Work for Employers?

What is a Benefit Charge?

To fully understand the full impact of benefit charges, we must first understand exactly what a benefit charge is. When someone applies for unemployment and then gets deemed eligible to collect unemployment benefits, they are then paid out money. In some cases, the State will even pay out unemployment benefits before a determination is made. The State will make a monetary determination (often times this is stated on a claim form) to determine the maximum dollar value that a claimant can collect. Usually this is based on the amount of money that the claimant has earned within a certain period of time.  Each state has different minimums and maximums for the total amount of benefits that can be paid out to a claimant.

 

Benefit charges against a company?

So where does all of that money being paid out come from? Well, it depends on what kind of employer you are. Certain companies such as non-profits qualify to be reimbursable employers, which means that you pay dollar for dollar when someone collects unemployment against your organization. This will also depend on the state that you operate in.

Generally speaking, most employers are tax rated, meaning that they have an unemployment tax account with the state. Just like every other tax, each employer is assigned a specific tax rate. So the more you pay out in benefits, the higher your tax rate is going to be. Conversely, the less you pay out in benefits, the lower your tax rate will be. 

 

How can I decrease the amount of Benefit Charges to my account?

There are a few ways to do this. The first is to make sure that you are contesting all unemployment claims in an accurate and timely manner. When claims are sent back to the state late, usually the employer will be penalized and will lose the opportunity to protest charges to their account. In order to win an unemployment claim, you must submit accurate information that is both informative and concrete, documentation is a must. By winning a claim, you will effectively block your account from being charged with unemployment benefits. This does not necessarily mean that a claimant will not get paid, it just means that the payment will not be charged to your business.

The next and most effective way to reduce the charges is to audit the charges on the benefit charge statement! This sounds like a no-brainer, however almost no-one does it! There are a few things that need to be audited on these forms – the people that are collecting, and the actual dollar amount that is being collected. The government isn’t anywhere near perfect, and they make mistakes all the time. Check out the overpayment rate in your state. Some states are over 40% in overpayments! This means that if someone is supposed to collect $10,000 from you account, they are actually getting paid $14,000. Your tax rate will skyrocket if these benefit charges are not controlled!

In conclusion, benefit charges are the most important piece of the unemployment puzzle. The amount of money being paid out of your reserve account directly affects the tax rate that you will be issued. Auditing these charges is critical and can be very cumbersome without the right tools to do it.

At Dunn Corporate Resources, our cutting edge computer system, utilizing the federal SIDES System, tracks the exact amount of benefit charges on each claim to ensure that there are no errors. And if someone is being overpaid, we automatically protest those charges and ensure that the money is credited back to the employer’s account. Contact us today if you’d like your UI account reviewed, or would like a demo of our software!

UI SIDES Award Winner

Today, a huge buzz word in the world of unemployment is UI SIDES. It is a centralized federal system for electronic transmission of data, making unemployment claims handling much easier, faster, and more efficient. To learn more about UI SIDES, check out our blog post or visit the ITSC website directly.

At the National Association of State Workforce Agencies Annual Conference, Dunn Corporate Resources was honored with the prestigious award of outstanding claims response through the SIDES system. We make sure that our clients are taken care of, and that nothing slips through the cracks. Our cutting edge computer system ensures that all claims are responded to in a timely and accurate manner. Because of our UI SIDES functionality, our clients enjoy greater lead time on claims as they no longer have to worry about mailing.

Have an interest in seeing what our UI SIDES platform can do for your organization? Contact us today and an expert will be glad to show you the benefits of working with an award winning TPA.

Virginia Revised UI Tax Rate Notices

Are you a Virginia employer that recently received a revised unemployment tax rate notice? Maybe even two revised rate notices? Not sure what to make of it?

Last month the Virginia Employment Commission mailed out a set of revised rate notices. These were mailed out to notify employers that their rates had changed. However, the changes were the result of a state benefit file that was ran in error. The state has recently corrected this matter and has issued a second set of revised tax rates reflecting the original tax rating data.

Mistakes by the State are very common. Employers should be aware that the numbers used in their tax rate calculation are often times incorrect – costing thousands! The DOL has a great list  to show what the error rate is in your state. 

Contact Dunn Corporate Resources today to have your UI account reviewed at no cost!

 

What is UI SIDES?

What is UI SIDES?

UI SIDES, Unemployment Insurance State Information Data Exchange System, is a web based system that allows Third Party Administrators to electronically process information requests from UI agencies. Basically, this means that UI requests can now be centrally processed regardless of the State, and the paperwork is eliminated! In order to qualify for UI SIDES, you must have a very high volume of UI claims and customized programming is necessary.

What is the benefit of SIDES?

Centralization of information! Today we are seeing more and more technology platforms being used, especially in the world of HR. SIDES allows us to easily streamline claims information to and from each State through one centralized electronic transmission. This allows us to provide our clients with cutting edge technology, real time information, and up-to-date reports on exactly where their UI claims stand.

Our clients will get even more lead time on each claim. Think about it, with some deadlines as little as 7 days from the mailing date, plus the time it takes for a claim to get mailed, your time limits are significantly diminished! With UI SIDES, we receive a claim as soon as it’s created by the State. An unemployment service provider without SIDES capabilities is simply at a disadvantage.

Contact us today to see how our SIDES based platform can help reduce your unemployment costs and workload today!

 

For more information about UI SIDES you can visit the ITSC homepage