NYS Department of Labor taxable wage base for unemployment - what amount exactly?
I'm trying to figure out the exact taxable wage base amount for unemployment in New York for 2025. My payroll company is asking me to verify this number and I can't find a clear answer on the NYS Department of Labor website. I think it's around $12,000 but I'm not 100% sure. Does anyone know what the current taxable wage base is for unemployment contributions? I need to make sure we're calculating our quarterly payments correctly.
15 comments
Join the conversation
Fatima Al-Qasimi
The NYS taxable wage base for unemployment insurance is $12,000 per employee for 2025. This is the maximum amount of wages per employee that are subject to unemployment insurance contributions. Once an employee earns more than $12,000 in a calendar year, you stop paying unemployment tax on their wages for the rest of that year.
0 coins
Giovanni Colombo
•Perfect, thank you! So if someone makes $50,000 a year, I only pay unemployment tax on the first $12,000 of their wages?
0 coins
StarStrider
Yes that's correct - $12,000 is the wage base. Just make sure you're using the right tax rate too, it varies by employer based on your experience rating with NYS Department of Labor. New employers usually start around 4.1% but it can go higher or lower depending on your claims history.
0 coins
Giovanni Colombo
•Good point about the rate varying. We're a new business so I'll check what our initial rate is.
0 coins
Dylan Campbell
wait so this only applies to employers right? like if i'm collecting unemployment benefits this doesn't affect me at all?
0 coins
Fatima Al-Qasimi
•Correct - the taxable wage base is only relevant for employers paying unemployment insurance taxes. It doesn't affect your unemployment benefits if you're collecting them.
0 coins
Sofia Torres
I had issues with NYS Department of Labor when I needed to verify our account information for quarterly filings. Spent forever on hold trying to reach someone. If you need to talk to them about your employer account, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual person at claimyr.com. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling.
0 coins
Giovanni Colombo
•Thanks for the tip! Our payroll company usually handles most of the NYS Department of Labor contact but good to know there's an option if we need to reach them directly.
0 coins
Dmitry Sokolov
Just double check that $12k amount because I swear it was different last year... these government numbers change so much its hard to keep track
0 coins
Melissa Lin
•You're right to double check! The wage base can change from year to year. For 2025 it is indeed $12,000, but it was $12,000 in 2024 too so it stayed the same this time. Always good practice to verify with the official NYS DOL website or your payroll provider at the start of each year since these amounts do get adjusted periodically.
0 coins
Ravi Sharma
For anyone else looking for this info - I found the official source on the NYS DOL website under "Employer Information" > "Unemployment Insurance" > "Contribution Rates and Wage Base." It confirms the $12,000 wage base for 2025. They also have a handy calculator tool to help estimate your quarterly UI contributions based on your payroll. Worth bookmarking that page since they update it annually with any changes.
0 coins
AstroAdventurer
•That's super helpful - thanks for sharing the exact path to find it on the NYS DOL website! I was struggling to navigate their site earlier. The calculator tool sounds really useful too, especially for planning our quarterly payments. Appreciate you taking the time to provide the specific navigation steps.
0 coins
Malik Johnson
Just wanted to add that if you're using QuickBooks or similar payroll software, make sure it's updated with the correct 2025 wage base. I had an issue earlier this year where my software was still using the previous year's settings and it threw off our calculations. Most payroll systems should auto-update but it's worth double-checking, especially if you're doing manual calculations or using older software versions.
0 coins
Zoe Alexopoulos
•Great point about the payroll software! I use ADP and had a similar issue last year where the system didn't automatically update the wage base until I manually refreshed the tax settings. It's definitely worth checking your payroll dashboard settings at the beginning of each year to make sure everything is current. Some systems require you to confirm or approve the new rates even if they're updated automatically. Thanks for the reminder - I'll make sure to verify our settings for 2025!
0 coins
Miguel Ramos
One thing to keep in mind is that the $12,000 wage base applies per calendar year, not per pay period or quarter. So if you hire someone mid-year, you still only pay unemployment tax on their first $12,000 of wages for that calendar year, regardless of when they started. This can be helpful for budgeting if you're bringing on seasonal workers or have high turnover. Also, make sure you're tracking this separately for each employee - it's not a total across all employees, but per individual worker.
0 coins