How much is federal unemployment tax - confused about FUTA on my pay stub
I just started a new job and noticed something called FUTA on my pay stub. My coworker said it's federal unemployment tax but I'm confused because I thought unemployment was handled by NYS Department of Labor? The amount seems small but I want to make sure they're taking the right amount. Does anyone know how much federal unemployment tax should be and if this affects my eligibility for NYS unemployment benefits if I need them later?
8 comments
Join the conversation
Pedro Sawyer
FUTA stands for Federal Unemployment Tax Act. Your employer pays this tax, not you - if it's showing on your pay stub as a deduction, that's probably an error. FUTA is 6% on the first $7,000 of wages per year, but employers get credits that usually reduce it to 0.6%. This tax funds the federal portion of unemployment insurance and helps states like New York run their unemployment programs through NYS Department of Labor.
0 coins
Gemma Andrews
•Wait so I shouldn't see this coming out of my paycheck at all? I need to talk to HR then because they're definitely deducting something called FUTA.
0 coins
Mae Bennett
yeah something's wrong there, employers pay FUTA not employees. in NY we don't pay state unemployment tax either, that's all on the employer side. the only unemployment-related thing you might see is if you have short-term disability but that's different
0 coins
Beatrice Marshall
•This happened to me too! Turned out payroll was using the wrong tax code. Took 3 weeks to get it fixed and get my money back.
0 coins
Melina Haruko
I had to deal with payroll errors like this before and it's frustrating when you can't get through to HR. If you need to contact NYS Department of Labor about how unemployment taxes work, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual agent. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helped when I had questions about my unemployment eligibility.
0 coins
Dallas Villalobos
•Never heard of that but honestly anything that helps you actually talk to someone at unemployment offices sounds useful. The phone lines are always busy.
0 coins
Reina Salazar
Your employer is definitely making a mistake if they're deducting FUTA from your pay. Federal unemployment tax is 100% employer responsibility. The current rate is 6% but most employers pay just 0.6% due to state tax credits. This tax helps fund unemployment benefits that you'd get through NYS Department of Labor if you ever need to file a claim. Get that payroll error fixed ASAP!
0 coins
Saanvi Krishnaswami
omg yes get that fixed!! I worked somewhere that did this by accident for like 6 months before anyone noticed
0 coins