Employers' guide to paying taxes

Paying taxes

If you have employees working in Washington, you likely pay unemployment taxes on their wages. Some employers, called reimbursable employers, instead reimburse us for unemployment benefits we pay to former employees. But most Washington employers pay unemployment taxes by following these steps:

1. If you're a new employer, you need to apply for a license from the state Department of Revenue before you can file a quarterly tax and wage report.

   If you're already licensed but hiring employees for the first time, you need to update your business license application. Find the application on the Department of Revenue website.

2. File your quarterly tax and wage report.
3. Check the current tax rates.

4. Make your tax payments either:

   • Online with the Employer Account Management System (EAMS) with Secure Access Washington (SAW). Use this payment coupon (PDF, 190.85 KB).
   • By mail with the paper forms that we mail you.

   If you file on paper, be sure to use the current, original forms we send you or you might get a penalty. To get the latest forms:

   • Email us at TaxForms@esd.wa.gov.
   • Call us at 855-829-9243 (855-TAX-WAGE), option 2.

   Mail paper reports or payments to:

   P.O. Box 84137
   Seattle, WA 98124-5437

Amending your tax and wage report

If you need to make changes to your quarterly tax and wage report, use the amended tax report form (PDF, 355.49 KB). Submit it by email, mail or fax. The amended report goes to a different address than the original report.

Email

UIfiles@esd.wa.gov

Mail

Employment Security Department
Tax Accounting
P.O. Box 9046
Olympia, WA 98507-9046

Fax

800-794-7657

Taxable wages

You pay taxes on your employees' gross (before tax) wages, up to the taxable wage base. Read about how we determine tax rates.

Wages include:

• The amount you paid each employee for working, whether as a fixed salary, hourly pay or overtime.
• Vacation or holiday pay.
• Tips the employee reported.
• Bonuses or prizes.
• Non-cash payments, such as meals and lodging.
• Sick leave under a nonqualified plan.

Wages do not include jury-duty pay, death benefits or sick leave under a qualified plan.

Go to the Washington State Legislature website to read the laws and rules that apply:

• Wages, remuneration — Retirement and disability payments excepted (RCW 50.04.330).
• How should employers report hours worked? (WAC 192-310-040(2)).

Deferred payment contracts

Businesses need to pay all taxes owed, plus interest and penalties for late tax payments and reports. If you are not able to pay the full amount due, you can request a deferred payment plan.

A deferred payment plan can help you by:

• Allowing you to maintain your assigned tax rate, rather than moving to the higher delinquent rate.
• Eliminating the risk of some legal collection actions.

Contact our Collections Unit at esctax@esd.wa.gov or 866-697-4831 to find out more and set up a plan.

Employer tax relief legislation

Senate Bill 5061, passed in 2021, gives employers some relief from state unemployment tax. We project the law will save approximately $1.7 billion for employers between 2021 to 2025.

Reduced flat social tax cap

The social tax rate is one part of the unemployment tax, along with your experience tax rate. For 2024, it is capped at a maximum of 0.85%.

The law reduced the flat social tax cap to .75% in 2022. It now increases the cap annually until it reaches .90% in 2025.

Suspended solvency tax

A solvency tax makes sure we can continue paying benefits. It also helps replenish the Unemployment Trust Fund and keep it stable.

To help employers, the law suspended the solvency tax through 2025. We may impose a solvency tax in 2026 if the Unemployment Trust Fund does not have enough reserves on Sept. 30 of any given year to pay 7 months of benefits.