SUTA & FUTA Employer Tax Calculator
Work out the FUTA and state SUTA unemployment tax you owe per employee for 2026, with the 5.4% state credit, your SUTA rate, and the wage base applied.
SUTA & FUTA Employer Tax Calculator
Wages and state
SUTA rate and wage base
New employers often start near 2.7%. Your real rate comes from your state UI notice.
2026 estimate when a state is chosen, confirm with your state UI agency. This field is the source of truth for SUTA math.
Advanced: mid-year & credit-reduction states
For credit-reduction states. For 2026: California = 1.8 and U.S. Virgin Islands = 5.1. Confirm the current DOL list.
Wage base remaining is the per-employee cap still left for the year after subtracting wages already paid. Both taxes stop once their base is used up, so a high earner still generates FUTA on only $7,000.
How FUTA and SUTA unemployment taxes work
FUTA and SUTA are the two unemployment taxes employers pay, and they work the same way: a flat rate on each employee's wages up to a yearly per-employee cap (the wage base). FUTA is the federal half, collected by the IRS on Form 940. It uses one nationwide $7,000 wage base and a 6.0% statutory rate. SUTA is the state half, collected by your state unemployment agency, and both the rate and the wage base differ from state to state.
The 6.0% FUTA rate is not what most employers actually pay. Pay your state unemployment tax on time and you get a credit of up to 5.4%, which drops the effective FUTA rate to 0.6%. On the $7,000 base that is a maximum of $42 per employee per year. If you lose part of that credit, either because you are in a credit-reduction state or because you paid the state late, the effective rate climbs back up.
How to calculate your FUTA and SUTA per employee (with an example)
Take an employee earning $50,000 in a state with a $7,000 SUTA wage base and a 2.7% SUTA rate, with no wages paid yet this year and no credit reduction:
- FUTA taxable wages: min($50,000, $7,000) = $7,000
- FUTA tax owed: $7,000 × 0.6% = $42.00
- SUTA taxable wages: min($50,000, $7,000) = $7,000
- SUTA tax owed: $7,000 × 2.7% = $189.00
- Total unemployment tax: $42.00 + $189.00 = $231.00
Partway through the year, the wage base you have already used matters. If you have already paid this employee $4,000 of FUTA-taxable wages, only $3,000 of FUTA base is left, so FUTA owed on the rest of the year is $3,000 × 0.6% = $18.00. The calculator subtracts year-to-date wages from each cap before applying the rate, so the per-employee base is never exceeded and taxable wages never drop below zero. A high earner still generates FUTA on only the first $7,000.
2026 rates, wage bases, and credit-reduction states
For 2026 the FUTA base stays at $7,000 with a 6.0% statutory rate and the standard 5.4% credit, for a 0.6% effective rate. SUTA wage bases vary a lot, from $7,000 in states like California, Florida, and Tennessee up to about $72,800 in Washington, and each state base has to at least match the $7,000 FUTA base. Your SUTA rate is experience-rated and assigned by the state, so you cannot guess it from the state alone. New employers often start near 2.7%.
Credit-reduction states are the ones with unpaid federal unemployment loans. For 2026 those are California (1.8% reduction, 2.4% effective FUTA) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (5.1% reduction, 5.7% effective FUTA). These lists change every year, so check the current figures with the IRS and DOL, and confirm your state wage base with your state UI agency. The wage base field here is a 2026 estimate you can type over. To see the full picture of what a hire costs, the Employer Cost of an Employee Calculator adds the FICA match and benefits, and the Salary After Tax by State Calculator shows the employee take-home side.
Run unemployment tax for a whole team
This page handles one employee at a time. When you need the whole team, the Payroll Calculator app runs full multi-employee payroll. It tracks SUTA and FUTA year-to-date separately for each person, caps each wage base, lets you override FUTA for credit-reduction states, and totals employer cost across every worker, so you get real per-employee numbers instead of working each one out by hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about suta & futa employer tax calculator
What is the difference between FUTA and SUTA?
FUTA is the Federal Unemployment Tax Act tax, collected by the IRS on Form 940. SUTA is state unemployment insurance tax, collected by your state. FUTA uses one nationwide rate and a $7,000 wage base, while each state sets its own SUTA rate (experience-rated per employer) and its own taxable wage base.
What is the FUTA tax rate for 2026?
The statutory FUTA rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages. If you pay your state unemployment tax on time, you get a 5.4% credit, which drops the effective rate to 0.6% (a maximum of $42 per employee per year). Employers in credit-reduction states pay more.
How do I calculate FUTA tax per employee?
Take the lesser of the employee's annual wages or $7,000, then multiply by the effective rate. At the full credit that is min(wages, $7,000) × 0.006, which comes to $42 per employee per year for anyone earning at least $7,000.
How much SUTA do I pay as an employer?
SUTA equals your state rate times wages up to your state taxable wage base. Your rate is experience-rated and assigned by the state (new employers often start near 2.7%), and 2026 wage bases range from $7,000 (CA, FL, TN) up to about $72,800 (WA). Enter your rate and confirm the wage base from your state UI notice.
What are the FUTA credit reduction states for 2026?
Credit-reduction states are those with unpaid federal unemployment loans, where employers lose part of the 5.4% credit and pay above 0.6%. For 2026 the credit-reduction jurisdictions are California (1.8% reduction, 2.4% effective) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (5.1% reduction, 5.7% effective). Confirm the current list on the DOL site, since it changes each year.
Do employees pay FUTA or SUTA?
No. Both FUTA and SUTA are employer-paid taxes in almost every state. A few states (such as Alaska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) require a small employee SUTA contribution, but the bulk of unemployment tax is on the employer.
What is the SUTA wage base in my state?
It varies by state and changes most years. This calculator pre-fills a 2026 estimate when you pick a state, but the field stays editable so you can enter the exact figure from your state UI agency. The wage base you enter is what the math uses.
Why is my FUTA rate higher than 0.6%?
Either you are in a credit-reduction state, or you did not pay your state unemployment tax on time, so part of the 5.4% credit is lost. Enter the reduction in the advanced section and the calculator shows your effective FUTA rate and recalculates the tax owed.