Glossary

SUTA tax

State unemployment tax — each state's own contribution rate on its own taxable wage base, paid by the employer.

Every state runs its own unemployment insurance fund and sets both the rate and the wage base it applies to. A new employer is assigned a standard starting rate, sometimes varying by industry; after a few years the rate becomes experience-rated, moving up or down with the claims filed against that employer. Some states add separate surcharges for training funds, bond obligations or fund solvency, which sit outside the headline rate and are easy to miss. Because both the rate and the base differ, two states with similar rates can produce very different bills.

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