Which wages are subject to unemployment tax in Washington - confused about my paycheck deductions

In Washington state, most wages are subject to unemployment tax up to the annual wage base limit. For 2025, that's $70,200 per employee. This includes your regular wages, overtime pay, bonuses, commissions, and most other compensation. There are some exceptions like certain fringe benefits, but your basic pay structure should all be covered.

wait i thought employees dont pay unemployment tax in washington? isnt that just on employers?

I had issues with my employer not properly reporting my wages to Washington ESD and it caused problems when I filed for unemployment. Make sure you keep track of your pay stubs because if there's ever a discrepancy, it can delay your claim processing. I couldn't get through to anyone at Washington ESD for weeks trying to sort it out. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real person at Washington ESD. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ. Saved me so much frustration.

Just to add - tips are also subject to unemployment tax if they're reported income. I work in a restaurant and learned this the hard way when my reported tips affected my unemployment calculation.

The wage base changes every year too so keep that in mind. What's $70,200 this year will probably be higher next year. Washington ESD publishes the new rates annually.

ugh the whole unemployment system is so confusing. why cant they just make it simple??

Some types of compensation aren't subject to unemployment tax though. Like certain employer-paid health insurance premiums, some retirement contributions, and specific fringe benefits. But for most regular employees, it's just your standard wages and bonuses.

I work multiple part-time jobs. Does each employer calculate the wage base separately or is it combined?

Contract work and 1099 income usually isn't subject to unemployment tax since you're not an employee. But if you're misclassified as a contractor when you should be an employee, that can cause issues with unemployment eligibility later.

Stock options and equity compensation can get tricky. Usually it depends on when the income is recognized for tax purposes. Your HR department should be able to explain how they handle it.

had a situation where my employer miscalculated my unemployment taxes and i didnt realize until i filed for benefits. my weekly benefit amount was wrong and it took forever to get washington esd to fix it. ended up using that claimyr service someone mentioned to actually talk to someone there.

Commission-based workers should be especially careful about tracking this. If your commissions aren't being properly reported for unemployment tax, it can really hurt your benefit calculation.

The unemployment tax rate for employees is pretty low compared to other deductions. I think it's like 0.4% or something? Much less than what comes out for Social Security or Medicare.

Severance pay and vacation payouts when you leave a job are also subject to unemployment tax, even though you might not think of them as regular wages.

just make sure your employer is actually remitting the taxes they collect to washington esd. ive heard of cases where employers collected the tax from employees but didnt pay it to the state, causing problems later

The original poster asked a good question. Understanding what wages count is important for knowing what your potential benefits might be if you ever need unemployment insurance.

One more thing - if you work in Washington but live in another state, you still pay into Washington's unemployment system since that's where you work. The benefits would come from Washington ESD if you filed a claim.

This has been really helpful reading through everyone's responses. The wage base limit and what types of income count seems pretty straightforward once you understand the basics.

For anyone wanting to double-check their employer's calculations, Washington ESD has wage lookup tools on their website where you can verify your reported wages. Useful to check periodically.

worth mentioning that if you have questions about your specific wage reporting situation, claimyr can help you get through to washington esd to ask directly. sometimes you need to talk to an actual person to get answers about complex pay situations

Thanks for starting this thread! I'm in a similar situation - just moved to Washington for work and trying to understand all the payroll deductions. Based on what everyone's shared, it sounds like the main things to remember are: 1) Most wages count toward unemployment tax up to $70,200 for 2025, 2) The employee rate is about 0.43%, and 3) Each employer calculates separately if you have multiple jobs. I'm going to start keeping better track of my pay stubs to make sure everything looks right. Really appreciate all the detailed responses from everyone - this community is super helpful for navigating Washington's employment system!

This thread has been incredibly informative! As someone who's also relatively new to Washington's unemployment system, I really appreciate how everyone broke down the wage base limits and what types of income count. One question I have - if you get a mid-year raise that pushes you over the $70,200 limit, does the unemployment tax just stop being deducted once you hit that threshold? Or do employers sometimes mess this up and keep deducting it? I want to make sure I'm watching for that on my pay stubs since I'm expecting a promotion later this year that might put me close to that limit.