FUTA surtax is no longer in effect
Thursday, July 21st, 2011Effective July 1, 2011, the 0.2% federal unemployment tax (FUTA) surtax is no more. The FUTA tax rate, before consideration of state unemployment tax credits, is now 6.0%.
That means employers need to separately track FUTA taxable wages paid before July 1, 2011, and FUTA taxable wages paid after June 30, 2011, since the FUTA tax rates are different during those periods.
Employers whose FUTA tax is greater than $500 for the calendar year need to make quarterly FUTA deposits; the next payment is due on Aug. 1, 2011. The August payment is based on taxable wages paid through June 30, 2011, so it will be calculated using the 6.2% rate. However, the next payment, due on Oct. 31, 2011, will be computed using the 6.0% FUTA tax rate if legislation is not enacted to retroactively reinstate the FUTA surtax beginning July 1, 2011.