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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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Giovanni Colombo
•Good point about the rate varying. We're a new business so I'll check what our initial rate is.
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Dylan Campbell
wait so this only applies to employers right? like if i'm collecting unemployment benefits this doesn't affect me at all?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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