Unemployment taxes

If you have employees working in Washington, you likely must pay unemployment taxes on their wages in this state. Tax reports or tax and wage reports are due quarterly. Liable employers must submit a tax report every quarter, even if there are no paid employees that quarter and/or taxes are unable to be paid.

Visit the forms and publications library for required unemployment tax forms.
Learn about reimbursable employers.
Browse messages and updates on employer account charges.

Employer tips and information

Filing wage reports and paying unemployment taxes

Tax reports or tax and wage reports, and unemployment tax payments can be filed and paid through our free and efficient online systems, or by submitting our original paper forms.

Employer Account Management Services (EAMS) or EAMS for Single Filers can be used to file tax reports and wage reports online. You will need to set up your online account in advance.

ePay can be used to pay unemployment taxes online. Avoid last-minute setup or compatibility issues by taking time to get familiar with ePay before using it to pay unemployment taxes.

All-in-one option with Employer Account Management Services (EAMS)

Submit wage reports, pay taxes and manage your account. Some of the following features require advanced access to Locked Services.

Save, amend, view and file wage reports.
Copy and paste employee data from quarter to quarter.
Auto-calculate excess wages.
Pay your taxes.
Check your tax rate.
Bulk-file multiple accounts or large payrolls.
Access EAMS through SecureAccess Washington (SAW).

How to use EAMS | Login to EAMS

EAMS for Single Filers (for former UIWEB Tax users)

Use EAMS for Single Filers to submit and pay tax and wage reports. Users who need to make amendments or who are bulk filers should not use EAMS for Single Filers.

One-time filing of tax reports or tax and wage reports.

Useful for filing a no-payroll report or tax and wages for a small number of employees.

Can't amend reports you've filed. Must separately amend tax report by filing amended Tax & Wage Report.

Auto-calculate excess wages for Washington employees.

Save unfinished work.

Print reports.

Pay, view and cancel payments.

View account activity.

Control you user account.

How to use EAMS for Single Filers | Login to EAMS for Single Filers

Pay taxes only

Use ePay to pay your unemployment taxes online. To use ePay, you must have a confirmation number generated from UIWebTax or EAMS.

How to use ePay | Login to ePay

Notice: Please use the latest revision (11/18/15) of the Quarterly Unemployment Insurance – Tax Summary (5208A) and Quarterly Unemployment Insurance – Wage Detail (5208B) forms. Failure to use these revised forms usually results in reporting format penalties being charged to your ESD Account. To request the latest forms, please call the Account Management Center at 855-829-9243. Select Option 4.

Unemployment tax rates

Review the basis for your unemployment taxes:

Calculate your unemployment taxes:

2021 unemployment tax rate calculator (xls)
2021 unemployment tax rate table (pdf)
2020 unemployment tax rate FAQ (pdf)

Learn more about how to appeal if you disagree with your unemployment tax rate.

Penalties

Learn more about penalties for:

Request a tax-penalty waiver | Set up a payment plan

Who and what to report

What to include in unemployment taxes

Who is excluded from unemployment taxes

Other information

Reminders

Filing reports for clients

Audits

Employers' records are audited to ensure that wages and hours are accurately reported as required by Washington state's unemployment-insurance laws and rules. Being selected for audit does not mean you violated any laws or rules.

Important Updates and Alerts (8)