Question 1

Why are the wage bases and rates editable instead of fixed?

Accepted Answer

The Social Security wage base is republished by the SSA every year, FUTA and SUTA wage bases and rates vary by state and by your own unemployment claims experience, so a single hardcoded number would go stale or simply be wrong for your state. This tool does the aggregation math; you supply the current figures for your situation.

Question 2

Does this include what comes out of employee paychecks?

Accepted Answer

No — this is the employer-side burden only: the matching FICA contribution plus FUTA and SUTA, which employers pay on top of gross wages. It does not include the employee-side FICA withholding, federal/state income tax withholding, or any employee-elected deductions.

Question 3

Why does the FUTA/SUTA calculation stop at a wage base?

Accepted Answer

Unlike Social Security and Medicare — which are federal payroll taxes withheld and matched on wages — FUTA and SUTA are unemployment insurance taxes that only apply to the first portion of each employee’s annual wages (the wage base). Once an employee’s year-to-date wages pass that base, no further FUTA/SUTA is owed on them for the year.

Corporate Payroll Tax Calculator

Four components, each capped differently

Common questions