Thomas & Thorngren

Both houses of Congress have agreed to provisions that will grant additional unemployment benefits to individuals who have exhausted their regular benefits. The President is expected to sign HR 2642, containing these provisions, next week. Attached (scroll down) is a brief summary of the main features of the legislation, as provided by Doug Holmes of [...]

Several changes have been made to Wisconsin Unemployment Law as a result of enactment of Senate Bill 431 on March 5, 2008. You may view the full bill and legislative analysis at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2007/data/SB-431.pdf.  The impact of the legislation is generally to increase your future tax payments. The following are several of the more significant changes, [...]

It can be difficult to clearly see the impact that an unemployment claim may have on a company’s unemployment tax payments. A reasonable person might struggle to identify any correlation between unemployment benefit charges and tax increases or decreases. Other factors may impact on your tax rate in the near term, masking the effect of [...]

Should employers share the financial burden faced by the family of a soldier who must move because he/she is transferred to a new duty station in the U.S. Armed Forces? This is an interesting public policy issue which we have not heard discussed. However, we have observed a trend to shift part of the cost [...]

Click here for an example of amended Texas unemployment tax rate notice for 2008, as well as an explanatory letter from the Texas Workforce Commission.  In a nutshell, the 0.12% Replenishment Tax Rate has been removed for 2008, reducing your total tax rate about that amount. If you made a voluntary contribution for 2008, this will [...]

The amount that New Jersey employers are assessed for the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund has increased from $1.00 per employee per year to $1.50 per employee per year, effective January 1, 2008. This fund pays for children’s medical expenses that are not covered  by insurance and that exceed a certain portion of their [...]

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development has announced that it will move from Premium Table 4 to Premium Table 3, effective for January 1, 2008 through June 30, 2008.  All employers will experience a tax rate increase with the exception of new employers and experience-rated employers with a negative reserve account balance. This [...]

States have begun the process of establishing their unemployment taxable wage bases for 2008. Click here for a listing of the taxable wage bases that we have obtained thus far. If there are any questions, please contact us.

The Texas Workforce Commission has indicated that an estimated $170 million in “Surplus Tax Credits” will be distributed to qualified employers in 2008.  For the second consecutive year the Surplus Tax Credits will be available because the balance in the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund exceeds the statutory ceiling.  The Surplus Tax Credits, which are actually [...]

Every January we remind clients with payroll in Alaska about the Option Forms that can be used to possibly reduce your UI tax rate.  The option forms allow you to adjust for artificial variances in your quarterly payrolls caused by such payments as an extra bi-weekly payroll in a quarter, bonuses, and lump sum payments. [...]