Seeing FUTA tax on my paystub - Should I be paying this as an employee?

You're absolutely right to question this! FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) is 100% an employer-paid tax. Employees should NEVER have FUTA withheld from their paychecks. This is different from state unemployment insurance taxes which in some states can be split between employer and employee. What you're seeing is definitely incorrect. Your employer is either making a serious payroll mistake or possibly doing something that could get them in trouble. FUTA is currently 6% on the first $7,000 of wages, but again, this should be paid entirely by the employer, not deducted from your wages.

Had a similar issue last year with my company incorrectly deducting FUTA from my paychecks. After weeks of getting nowhere with HR, I finally used this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me document everything and build a case. They analyzed my paystubs and created a detailed report showing exactly how much was incorrectly withheld. The report was super helpful for making my case to management. They have this special feature that identifies payroll tax issues and explains the relevant tax laws in plain English. Made it way easier to show my employer they were making a mistake without coming across like I was accusing them of something shady.

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here. For anyone dealing with the FUTA issue - it was incredibly helpful! They analyzed 6 months of my paystubs and created a detailed report showing exactly how much FUTA tax was incorrectly withheld ($312.47 total). The report explained the relevant tax laws in a way that was super clear, and I was able to take it to our HR department. They forwarded it to our outsourced payroll provider who immediately acknowledged the error. They're refunding all the incorrect deductions in my next paycheck and fixed the issue going forward. Honestly surprised how smoothly it went once I had the proper documentation!

When I had a payroll issue last year (not FUTA specifically but a different tax problem), I spent WEEKS trying to get through to the IRS for clarification. Call after call, hours on hold, it was a complete nightmare. I finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real IRS agent within about 15 minutes. They have this clever system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you, then calls you when an agent is on the line. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that FUTA is 100% employer-paid and gave me specific references to provide to my employer. Having that official confirmation from the IRS itself really helped resolve my situation.

I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After dealing with 3+ hours on hold trying to reach the IRS myself about a separate tax issue, I broke down and tried Claimyr out of desperation. To my complete shock, I got a call back in about 40 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line! The agent confirmed what others have said - FUTA is 100% employer paid and should NEVER appear as a deduction on your paycheck. She also explained that this is a relatively common payroll software error and gave me specific information to take to my employer. Problem was resolved the next day with a promise to refund all incorrectly withheld amounts. Best money I've spent in a while considering the hours of frustration it saved me. Just wanted to follow up since I was so skeptical at first.

This is a really common payroll mistake, believe it or not. I process payroll for a small business and we had our software incorrectly set up when we first started. The FUTA field was accidentally mapped to employee deductions instead of employer contributions. Double check your paystub - does it show as a deduction or just as an informational field? Some companies show both employee and employer contributions on paystubs for transparency, but the employer portions shouldn't reduce your net pay.

Has anyone ever had to escalate something like this beyond the company? I've been dealing with the same FUTA issue for months and my employer keeps claiming it's "being worked on" but nothing changes.

This is definitely a serious payroll error that needs immediate attention. As everyone has confirmed, FUTA is exclusively an employer tax - you should never see it deducted from your paycheck. I'd suggest documenting everything before approaching your employer. Calculate the total amount incorrectly withheld across all your paystubs (FUTA is 6% on the first $7,000 of annual wages, so the maximum incorrect deduction would be $420 per year). When you talk to HR or payroll, be polite but firm. Explain that you've researched the issue and FUTA is an employer-only tax under federal law. Request both an immediate correction going forward AND full reimbursement of all past incorrect deductions. Make sure to get their response in writing. If they're unresponsive or deny the error, don't let it drag on for months. File a wage complaint with your state's Department of Labor - they have enforcement powers and take wrongful deductions very seriously. You've earned that money and deserve to get it back!