State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) Rates
State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) rates are assigned to businesses by their state tax agencies. Rates are determined by many different factors such as how many former employees receive unemployment benefits and the business industry. New employers are generally assigned the state’s new business rate.
At the end of the year, state agencies send out rate notices with updated SUI rates for the upcoming year, while some states, such as New Jersey, Vermont, and Tennessee, update their rates in the third quarter. This information may need to be updated in Square Payroll.
Update the SUI Rate
If the SUI rate on your Square Payroll account does not match the rate assigned by your state, you will need to update your account settings by following the steps below.
Square Payroll will assist in automatically updating SUI tax rates for businesses in California (CA), New York (NY), Pennsylvania (PA), Virginia (VA), Washington (WA), and Wisconsin (WI). Although Square Payroll will assist in verifying your tax rates each quarter, given that you have provided a valid account number, you are responsible for ensuring that these rates are accurately reflected under Tax Info on your Dashboard.Contact Square Support with your SUI rate notice if it does not match. For all other states, this information can be updated by following these steps:
Sign in to Payroll > Settings > Tax Info in your Square Dashboard.
Click Edit next to your state tax account information.
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Enter the rate for the current quarter or a future date by clicking Add Future Rate.
Enter the new rate as a percentage. For example, if the state notice refers to a rate of .0325, enter 3.25%.
If you process payroll in different states or multiple tax jurisdictions, follow the same steps to update your SUI rate for each business location.
Press Save.
Note: If the rate is updated in the middle of the quarter, Square Payroll will recalculate your SUI taxes and credit or debit your account based on the SUI rate at the end of the quarter.
To reconcile any underpayments or overpayments due to an incorrect SUI rate in previously filed quarter, please contact your state tax agency or follow the instructions on the notice. You will be responsible for any penalties the agency applies to your account if the SUI rate is updated after the deadline on the notice.