Washington ESD - what account is credited for the payment of federal unemployment taxes?

Federal unemployment taxes (FUTA) don't go to Washington ESD at all. They go to the federal Treasury and are credited to the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund account. This is completely separate from your state unemployment taxes that go to Washington ESD. FUTA is used to fund the federal portion of unemployment benefits and administrative costs.

Yeah the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund is the account that gets credited. It's managed by the US Treasury, not Washington ESD. Each state has their own account within that trust fund, but the FUTA payments themselves go to the federal level first.

I've been struggling with Washington ESD for months trying to get through to someone about my unemployment claim status. Has anyone found a reliable way to actually talk to a human there? The phone system is impossible and I keep getting disconnected after waiting for hours.

To answer the original question - it's definitely the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund that gets credited when employers pay FUTA. Each state including Washington has an account in that fund, but the actual tax payments flow through the federal system first.

wait im confused about my own taxes now. do i need to pay federal unemployment tax as a contractor or just regular employees?

The accounting can get pretty complex but basically: FUTA taxes -> Federal Treasury -> Federal Unemployment Trust Fund -> Individual state accounts within that fund. Washington ESD then draws from Washington's portion of that fund to pay benefits.

I'm a CPA and deal with this regularly. The Federal Unemployment Trust Fund is definitely the correct answer. It's Treasury account symbol 20X8042 if you want to get really technical about it. Most small businesses don't need to worry about the specific account details though.

This whole thread is making me realize I don't understand unemployment taxes at all. I thought employers just paid Washington ESD directly for everything.

Just to add some context - the federal portion (FUTA) is currently 0.6% on the first $7,000 of wages per employee, assuming the state gets the full credit. Washington state unemployment tax rates vary by employer but are separate from the federal portion.

I've been dealing with Washington ESD for weeks about my disqualification and can't get anyone on the phone. This Claimyr thing mentioned earlier actually sounds helpful. Has anyone else tried it recently?

The Federal Unemployment Trust Fund also helps states during economic downturns when their own unemployment funds get depleted. It's like a backup system to make sure benefits can still be paid.

So just to summarize for the original poster - when employers pay FUTA taxes, those payments are credited to the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund, which is a Treasury account. This is completely separate from state unemployment taxes that go directly to Washington ESD.

i never knew there was a federal unemployment tax until reading this thread. thought it was all just handled by the state

This has been really educational. I'm bookmarking this thread for future reference when I have to explain unemployment tax accounting to clients.

One more thing to add - the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund account doesn't just get FUTA taxes. It also receives appropriations from Congress for things like emergency unemployment programs during recessions or pandemics.

Thanks everyone for the detailed explanations. This thread has been way more helpful than trying to parse through IRS publications on my own!