SUTA
State Unemployment Tax — analogous to FUTA but levied by each state with state-specific wage bases and experience-rated rates.
SUTA (State Unemployment Tax Act) is the state-level analog to FUTA, levied by each U.S. state on employers to fund state unemployment insurance benefits. Each state sets its own wage base (often higher than FUTA's $7,000 — Washington's is $68,500 in 2024, Oregon's is $52,800, Alaska's is $47,100), its own new-employer rate (typically 1.0%–3.5%), and an experience-rated rate that adjusts annually based on the employer's history of unemployment claims.
SUTA is paid by the employer only and is reported on each state's quarterly wage detail report. The deposit cadence varies by state; most are quarterly. The new-employer rate applies for the first 2–3 years; after that the experience rate kicks in and can swing widely depending on layoff history. A small business that lays off employees in one year may see its SUTA rate rise sharply the following year — sometimes by 2–3 percentage points, which on a high wage-base state can mean an extra $1,000+ per employee per year.