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State Unemployment Wage Base Changes

Employers Subject to Higher SUTA Wage Bases in 2012

Across the U.S. a large number of states are dealing with solvency issues in their unemployment insurance trust fund. At least 20 state jurisdictions have increased taxable wage base limits in 2012. Nevada is the only state that lowered the taxable limit and Rhode Island has a two-tiered wage base for 2012. States are able to set limits on the wage base that are taxable for unemployment insurance purposes as long as the limit is not less than the federal standard of $7,000.

Below is a list of the states with SUTA wage base changes in 2012:

Alaska 34,600 to 35,800	New Mexico 21,900 to 22,400
Colorado 10,000 to 11,000	North Dakota 25,500 to 27,900
Florida 7,000 to 8,500	Oklahoma 18,600 to 19,100
Illinois 12,740 to 13,560	Oregon 32,300 to 33,000
Iowa 24,700 to 25,300	Rhode Island 19,000 to 19,600 (21,100*)
Kentucky 8,000 to 9,000	South Carolina 10,000 to 12,000
Minnesota 27,000 to 28,000	South Dakota 11,000 to 12,000
Montana 26,300 to 27,000	Vermont 13,000 to 16,000
New Hampshire 12,000 to 14,000	Washington 37,300 to 38,200
New Jersey 29,600 to 30,300	Wyoming 22,300 to 23,000

*Rhode Island wage base limit of $21,100 for certain negative-rated employers.

In addition, 21 state jurisdictions are subject to higher taxes due to a reduction in the credit for unemployment taxes that can be applied to the overall federal unemployment taxes credit. These states are referred to as credit reduction states. Find out if your state is included in the list of credit reduction states.