Payroll taxes
What is SUTA / SUI?
State Unemployment Tax / State Unemployment Insurance
SUTA (State Unemployment Tax Act), also called SUI (State Unemployment Insurance), is the state counterpart to FUTA. It funds the benefits paid to laid-off workers, and in almost every state it is an employer-only tax. Both the rate and the taxable wage base are set by each state, so the cost of the same hire can differ by hundreds of dollars depending on where the employee works.
New employers pay a flat new-employer rate until they build a claims history, after which the state assigns an experience rating. Because rates and wage bases vary so much, SUTA is the main reason the employer cost of a hire is a state-by-state question.
Example
A new employer in Texas pays 2.7% on the first $9,000 of wages (up to $243 per worker), while California charges 3.4% on the first $7,000 (up to $238). Alaska's 1% rate applies to a $51,700 base, reaching $517 per worker.