There are only nine states in the country that don’t collect income tax from workers, and Wyoming is one of them.
This payroll tax is one that most employers need to remember to withhold from employee paychecks and file and pay to their state at regular intervals. As a Wyoming employer, you’re off the hook with income tax, but there’s still one tax you need to pay: state unemployment tax.
Wyoming Unemployment Tax
All states, including Wyoming, have a state unemployment tax that falls under the legislation of the State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA). Therefore, this tax is known as SUTA tax.
SUTA tax in Wyoming supports Wyoming’s unemployment program. Although federal funds go toward each state for their unemployment programs, states also charge SUTA tax to lend further financial support to these important programs.
Only a handful of states require not just employers to pay SUTA tax but also require employers to withhold SUTA tax from employee paychecks. Wyoming isn’t one of these states. Only employers pay SUTA tax in this state without withholding anything from employee paychecks.
Your First Step: Registering Your Business
Before paying Wyoming’s SUTA tax, you’ll need to register your business with WYUI, the state’s unemployment system. This is the same portal that unemployed workers use when registering themselves for benefits and claiming their unemployment benefits.
When you visit the site, click on the link to register your business. Enter your information and then continue the online registration process to create an account in the system. Then, you can use this portal every quarter when you file and pay your SUTA tax.
You’ll also need to report new hires, as the number of employees you have and their wages affect how much you’re required to pay for SUTA tax.
Use the Wyoming New Hire Reporting Center to register your business and create an account. You must report new hires to the state within 20 days of hiring them by providing their full name, address, date of hire, Social Security number, and state of hire if you employ workers in multiple states.
How to Calculate Wyoming Unemployment Tax
Like most states, Wyoming has a variable SUTA tax rate. Although most employers will pay less, the maximum rate is 8.5%, which is typically reserved for employers who don’t register their business appropriately before filing a SUTA tax report. The minimum rate in Wyoming is 0.09%.
After registering with WYUI, you’ll receive your tax rate from Wyoming. Usually, this is a relatively low rate for new employers. Once you hit three years as a business paying Wyoming unemployment taxes, you’ll likely have your rate adjusted by the state, which could make it higher or lower than your new employer rate.
Besides your rate, you’ll need to know the wage base rate in Wyoming, which is $30,900 for 2024. This is the maximum amount of an employee’s annual earnings subject to SUTA tax.
So, if you have an employee making $50,000 a year, only $30,900 of their earnings will be included in your SUTA tax calculation.
Let’s look at a couple of examples:
Say your assigned tax rate is 2.5%. Your employee earns $50,000 a year, so you’ll calculate your tax based on the wage base of $30,900.
$30,900 x 2.5% (0.025) = $772.50
In this example, you’ll pay $772.50 in SUTA tax for that employee in 2024.
Now, if an employee makes only $30,000 at your company, you’ll calculate your SUTA tax on their full earnings of $30,000.
$30,000 x 2.5% (0.025) = $750
Paying and Filing Wyoming Unemployment Tax
Unemployment tax in Wyoming is due on the following dates:
- Quarter 1: April 30
- Quarter 2: July 31
- Quarter 3: October 31
- Quarter 4: January 31
This means that your reporting and payment for each quarter must be in by these dates to avoid potential penalties.
To file and pay your Wyoming SUTA tax, log into the WYUI account that you registered for your business. You can use the online portal to complete your tax filing each quarter.
The Official Resources for Wyoming Payroll Taxes
Wyoming provides several resources for employers to use as they navigate Wyoming payroll taxes. You’ll find some of the most helpful information on the websites you need to use to register your business for tax payments and hire new employees, but here are a few others that you’ll want to bookmark:
- Unemployment Insurance Guide for Employers: From Wyoming’s Department of Workforce Services, this web page has just about everything you need to know to pay SUTA taxes in the state accurately. Find official information about the tax rate, updated wage bases, reporting due dates, and filing instructions, as well as links to the payment and new hire reporting systems.
- Employment Tax Division: The Employment Tax Division of the Department of Workforce Services answers questions you might have about tax audits, like why your company might be chosen for an audit and how to best prepare for one.
- Labor Standards Office: Stay up to date with Wyoming’s labor laws, wage requirements, and other pertinent regulations that can also help you stay compliant with your payroll taxes.
- Certificate of Good Standing: If your business needs to apply for a loan or requires proof that you’ve paid your Wyoming payroll taxes online, you can request a Certificate of Good Standing from the state.
Get Your Wyoming Taxes Completed Automatically
Wyoming payroll taxes are simpler to manage than others because there are no state income taxes to deal with. State income tax is charged at different rates, similar to federal income tax, so how much you withhold and pay varies by employee and complicates payroll.
But just because you’re not dealing with Wyoming income tax doesn’t mean you should manage payroll on your own. You still have federal and SUTA tax to figure out and pay on time. Plus, if you employ people in other states, you also need to consider their state’s tax laws when running payroll.
Your best option, regardless of how “simple” your payroll taxes are, is using payroll software to organize and process payroll.
Once you enter your employees’ information, the software uses that employee data to calculate tax rates for you automatically. So, your SUTA taxes will be calculated and ready to pay each quarter without needing to do the math yourself.
And, if you have any employees with wage garnishments, payroll software withholds it from their paychecks so you can get that money where it needs to go.
If you have a small workforce, look for budget-friendly payroll software that charges a monthly fee for its service based on the number of employees you have. As you scale, you can look into more complex systems with numerous time-saving features, like managing employee benefits or reporting new hires.
