Florida Reemployment Tax: The $7,000 Wage Base, the New Employer Rate, Form RT-6, and the Owners Who Aren't Covered

Florida's reemployment tax is the state unemployment insurance tax under another name, and it's the one state payroll tax a Florida employer pays. Who registers: an employer that pays wages of US$1,500 or more in a calendar quarter, or employs at least one worker for some part of a day in each of twenty weeks in a calendar year, registers with the Florida Department of Revenue (which administers the tax for the Department of Commerce's reemployment assistance program) and receives an account number; household employers (US$1,000 of cash wages in a quarter) and agricultural employers (US$10,000 of cash wages in a quarter, or five workers in each of twenty weeks) have their own thresholds. The wage base and the rate: the tax applies to the first US$7,000 of each employee's wages in the calendar year (Florida's wage base for 2026 — tied for the lowest in the country, because it matches the federal FUTA base) at the employer's rate — 2.7 percent for a new employer until it has reported for ten quarters (about two and a half years), then an experience-based rate computed from the employer's benefit charges (the unemployment benefits paid to its former employees) relative to its taxable payroll, ranging from a minimum (0.1 percent) to a maximum (5.4 percent) — so the maximum tax per employee per year is about US$378 and the new-employer tax is US$189 (the 2026 range, after the statutory variable and final adjustment factors, is 0.1 to 5.4 percent — US$7 to US$378 per employee); the rate notice arrives each December for the following year; a business that lays off employees who collect benefits sees its rate rise. The federal interaction: the federal unemployment tax (FUTA — Form 940) is 6.0 percent on the first US$7,000 of each employee's wages, reduced by a credit of up to 5.4 percent for employers that pay their state unemployment tax on time — so the effective FUTA rate is 0.6 percent (US$42 per employee) — unless the state is a credit reduction state with outstanding federal loans (Florida was not one for 2025 — only California and the U.S. Virgin Islands were — and, with no outstanding federal loan, is not expected to be for 2026); paying the Florida tax late reduces the federal credit. The quarterly return: Form RT-6 (the Employer's Quarterly Report), filed online, reporting each employee's gross wages and the taxable wages (up to the wage base) for the quarter, with the tax due by the last day of the month after the quarter ends (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31); an employer that had ten or more employees in any quarter of the prior state fiscal year (July–June) must file and pay electronically, and payroll services file it for most small employers; the penalties and interest for late filing and payment apply per report. Who is covered — the owners and the family: the tax applies to wages paid to employees — so the question is who is an employee: an S corporation's shareholder-officer who receives a salary is an employee, and the salary is subject to the reemployment tax (up to the wage base) — Florida doesn't exempt corporate officers — any officer performing services for the corporation is an employee, paid or not, and so is a working member of an LLC taxed as a corporation (s. 443.1216(1)(a)); a sole proprietor, a partner, and an LLC member taxed as a sole proprietor or partner are not employees of their own business and pay no reemployment tax on their own earnings (and can't collect benefits); family employment — a sole proprietor's child under 21, spouse, or parent employed in the business is excluded from coverage in Florida as under the federal rule (s. 443.1216(13)(d), step-relationships included — for a partnership, only if the family relationship exists with every partner, and never for a corporation); corporate officers who own the business — covered, and potentially eligible for benefits if the business lays them off (in practice, contested). Independent contractors: the Florida Department of Revenue audits employers for misclassified workers — a worker paid on a 1099 who is an employee under the common-law test (the carpet cleaning classification guide) adds to the employer's taxable wages, with the back tax, penalties, and interest; the state receives referrals from benefit claims (a "contractor" who files for unemployment benefits triggers an audit of the business). The multistate employer: an employee who works in several states is reported to one state under the localization rules (the state where the service is localized, then the base of operations, then the place of direction or control, then the employee's residence — s. 443.1216(7)), so a Florida company with a remote employee in Georgia reports that employee's wages to Georgia, and a Canadian company's Florida subsidiary reports its Florida employees to Florida; and when an employee transfers into Florida mid-year, the employer can count wages it already reported to another state toward Florida's US$7,000. The tax treatment: the reemployment tax is a deductible payroll tax for the employer (on the federal return as a tax or with payroll costs); it is not withheld from employees (Florida's is employer-paid only). The rate management: an employer can reduce its future rate by contesting unwarranted benefit charges (responding to the notice of claim with the separation reason — a former employee fired for misconduct or who quit voluntarily may be disqualified from benefits, keeping the charge off the employer's account); Florida has no voluntary-contribution option for buying a rate down; the notices of claim have short response deadlines, and a missed response means the charge lands. The bookkeeping: the registration; the rate notice each year; the RT-6 filings and payments quarterly; the wage base tracking by employee (the tax stops after US$7,000 each year); the notices of claim and the responses; the FUTA credit reconciliation on Form 940. The errors: a new employer not registered (the tax still owed, with penalties); the S corporation owner's salary left out of the RT-6; notices of claim ignored (charges land and the rate rises); the wage base tracked incorrectly (tax paid on wages above US$7,000 — refundable, but only if noticed); and 1099 workers who are employees.

Key takeaways

• Florida's reemployment tax is employer-paid on the first US$7,000 of each employee's wages each year — 2.7 percent for new employers, then an experience rate between 0.1 and 5.4 percent.
• Paying it on time preserves the federal FUTA credit — reducing FUTA to 0.6 percent on the same US$7,000.
• Form RT-6 is due the last day of the month after each quarter; payroll services file it for most small employers.
• S corporation shareholder-officers on salary are covered; sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members taxed as either are not — and family members of a sole proprietor are excluded.
• Misclassified 1099 workers are the state's audit focus, often triggered by the worker's own benefit claim.
• Respond to every notice of claim — unwarranted charges raise the rate for years.

The Florida reemployment tax file

Registration and account number. Annual rate notice. RT-6 quarterly: wages, taxable wages, tax; filed and paid by the month-end deadline. Wage base tracking by employee. Owner and family coverage decided by entity type. Contractor classification reviewed. Notices of claim and responses. Form 940 reconciliation. The notices of claim are the item that moves the rate.

Worked example

A Pembroke Pines landscaping company (S corporation) with eighteen employees, including its owner at a US$72,000 salary: new-employer rate 2.7 percent in its first ten quarters — US$189 per employee, including the owner (the shareholder-officer's salary is covered). In year four, its experience rate is 1.1 percent after two seasonal layoffs whose benefit charges landed on its account; it begins answering every notice of claim with the separation documentation, and a former employee terminated for repeated no-shows is disqualified — keeping that charge off the account. Its FUTA on Form 940: 0.6 percent on each employee's first US$7,000 — the full state credit, because every RT-6 was paid on time. A West Palm Beach sole proprietor with two employees and her 19-year-old son working summers: the son is excluded from coverage as her child under 21 in a sole proprietorship; she herself is not covered. A cleaning company paying its crews on 1099s was audited after one crew member filed a benefit claim: the Department of Revenue reclassified eleven workers and assessed three years of reemployment tax on their wages with penalties.

Official sources

The Florida Department of Revenue states: “Reemployment tax is paid by employers and the tax collected is deposited into the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund for the sole purpose of paying reemployment assistance benefits to eligible claimants. Only the first $7,000 of wages paid to each employee by their employer in a calendar year is taxable.” — Florida Department of Revenue, Florida Reemployment Tax, https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/reemployment.aspx

The IRS explains: “In determining whether the person providing service is an employee or an independent contractor, all information that provides evidence of the degree of control and independence must be considered.” — Internal Revenue Service, Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?, https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee

Practitioner note

Florida's reemployment tax is small per employee — US$189 at the new-employer rate on a US$7,000 wage base — and easy to get wrong in the ways that cost more: the S corporation owner's salary left off the RT-6, the notices of claim ignored until the experience rate rises, and the 1099 workers the state finds when one of them files for benefits. Our Florida payroll files register before the first paycheck, respond to every notice of claim with the separation documentation, and reconcile the RT-6 payments to Form 940 so the federal credit holds at its full 5.4 percent.

See also: For related guidance, see Florida local business tax receipts by county and city; and browse every small business tax guide, by situation.

Next step

Fairlight Accounting is a cross-border accounting and tax practice with a U.S. Tax Desk and a Canadian Tax Desk. Our U.S. Tax Desk handles Florida reemployment tax compliance — registration, rate notices and experience-rate management, RT-6 quarterly filings, owner and family coverage by entity type, notice-of-claim responses, contractor classification review, and FUTA credit reconciliation. See pricing or book a call.