Connecticut SUTA Tax Calculator
Figure basis: Official U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment InsuranceState Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) tax is the state unemployment insurance tax that employers pay to fund unemployment benefits in Connecticut. This calculator estimates your Connecticut SUTA liability for the 2026 tax year. Enter the average annual wages per employee, your number of employees, and your assigned SUTA rate to see the taxable wages, tax per employee, and total tax. SUTA is charged only on the first $27,000 of each employee's wages (the 2026 Connecticut taxable wage base); wages above that per employee are not taxed. Your rate is set by the state based on your business's unemployment claim history (your "experience rating"); a new employer pays 1.9%. SUTA is separate from the federal FUTA tax and, in most states, is paid entirely by the employer and never deducted from employee wages. All wage-base and rate figures are sourced from U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance and verified for 2026. Replace the default rate with the rate on your state tax-rate notice for an exact figure.
In Connecticut, employers pay SUTA on the first $27,000 of each employee's wages for 2026, and a new employer pays 1.9%. For 5 employees earning $50,000 each at 1.9%, the estimated annual SUTA tax is $2,565.00 ($513.00 per employee).
How Connecticut SUTA tax works
Connecticut charges state unemployment tax on each employee's wages up to the taxable wage base of $27,000 for 2026. Once an employee has earned that much in the year, no further SUTA is due on that employee. Your rate is assigned by the state from your experience rating; a new employer pays 1.9%.
taxable wages per employee = min(annual wages, $27,000)
SUTA tax per employee = taxable wages per employee x rate / 100
total SUTA tax = SUTA tax per employee x number of employees
Worked example: 5 employees each earning $50,000 in Connecticut at 1.9%. Each employee's taxable wages are capped at $27,000, so the tax per employee is $513.00 and the total is $2,565.00.
Connecticut SUTA figures (2026)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable wage base | $27,000 | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| New employer rate | 1.9% | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| Experience rate range | 0.1% to 10% | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
The experience-rate range shown is the base statutory range. Most states add mandatory assessments on top (for example a fund-building, solvency, or administrative surcharge), so an employer's effective rate can be higher than the range shown, and the new-employer rate may exclude those add-ons. Your exact assigned rate is on your annual state tax-rate notice.
Editor's insight: Connecticut's rebuilt unemployment tax
Connecticut recently overhauled its unemployment tax. For decades the taxable wage base sat frozen at $15,000, one of the lowest in the country; a 2021 reform raised it to $25,000 starting in 2024 and indexes it upward each year, reaching $27,000 for 2026. That change roughly doubled the wages exposed to SUTA and shifted more of the cost onto employers with larger payrolls, while the same law trimmed the maximum charged rate to cushion the transition.
A new employer pays 1.9% on that $27,000 base, about $513 per employee per year. After the new-employer period, Connecticut experience-rates accounts across an unusually wide band, from 0.1% all the way to 10%, so a poor claims history is genuinely expensive here. The state also adds a fund solvency tax to each employer's computed rate to keep the trust fund whole, which can push the effective rate above the base schedule.
SUTA in Connecticut is an employer-only tax and is never deducted from wages. Because both the base and the top rate are high, the state rewards steady employment more than most: keeping layoffs low moves an account down a long rate ladder and saves real money on every one of the first $27,000 of each worker's wages. Enter the rate from your Connecticut Department of Labor notice for an exact figure.
Connecticut SUTA tax: frequently asked questions
What is the Connecticut unemployment (SUTA) taxable wage base for 2026?
For 2026, Connecticut employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $27,000 of each employee's wages. Wages above $27,000 per employee are not subject to SUTA.
What is the Connecticut new employer SUTA rate?
New employers in Connecticut pay a SUTA rate of 1.9% until they have enough history to be experience-rated. On the $27,000 wage base that is up to $513.00 per employee per year.
How is Connecticut SUTA tax calculated?
Multiply each employee's wages, capped at the $27,000 taxable wage base, by your assigned experience rate, then add up across employees. SUTA is primarily an employer-paid tax and is not deducted from employee pay.
Is the Connecticut SUTA rate the same for every employer?
No. After the new-employer period, Connecticut assigns each employer an experience rate based on its history of layoffs and claims, generally ranging from about 0.1% to 10% for experience-rated employers before any state add-on surcharges. The rate field above defaults to the new-employer rate; replace it with the rate on your state tax notice for an exact figure.
Official sources
- Connecticut unemployment taxable wage base and rates (tax year 2026): U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance, as at Jul 15, 2026.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 15 July 2026. See our methodology. General information, not tax or legal advice.