FUTA
The Federal Unemployment Tax — 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages, paid by employers only.
FUTA is the Federal Unemployment Tax Act tax, which funds the federal portion of the U.S. unemployment insurance program. The headline rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages, but employers in good standing on their state unemployment tax (SUTA) receive a 5.4% credit, leaving an effective FUTA rate of 0.6% — a maximum of $42 per employee per year. FUTA is paid by the employer only; it cannot be deducted from employee wages.
FUTA is reported annually on Form 940 (due January 31 for the prior year) and deposited quarterly when the accumulated liability exceeds $500. If the accumulated liability stays under $500 for the year, the entire amount can be paid with the Form 940 filing. Most modern small-business payroll software handles FUTA deposits and the Form 940 filing automatically.
States with outstanding federal loans can have their FUTA credit reduced (a "credit reduction state"), which raises the effective FUTA rate for employers in that state by 0.3% per year of unresolved loan balance. Check the IRS's annual credit-reduction state list each year.