Florida 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 Florida. This calculator estimates your Florida 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 $7,000 of each employee's wages (the 2026 Florida 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 2.7%. 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 Florida, employers pay SUTA on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages for 2026, and a new employer pays 2.7%. For 5 employees earning $50,000 each at 2.7%, the estimated annual SUTA tax is $945.00 ($189.00 per employee).
How Florida SUTA tax works
Florida charges state unemployment tax on each employee's wages up to the taxable wage base of $7,000 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 2.7%.
taxable wages per employee = min(annual wages, $7,000)
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 Florida at 2.7%. Each employee's taxable wages are capped at $7,000, so the tax per employee is $189.00 and the total is $945.00.
Florida SUTA figures (2026)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable wage base | $7,000 | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| New employer rate | 2.7% | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| Experience rate range | 0.1% to 5.4% | 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.
Reading Florida's reemployment tax as a new employer
Florida is unusual in two ways. First, the state officially calls this tax 'reemployment tax' rather than unemployment tax, though it is the same SUTA obligation covered by federal law. Second, Florida uses the federal floor of $7,000 for its 2026 taxable wage base, the lowest possible. You pay reemployment tax on only the first $7,000 each employee earns, so nearly every full-time worker reaches the cap within the first quarter.
New Florida employers pay a flat 2.7% rate, which limits first-year tax to $189.00 per employee (2.7% of $7,000). Once experience-rated, assigned rates span 0.1% to 5.4%, an unusually wide band in dollar terms: as little as $7.00 or as much as $378.00 per employee each year. An employer with no benefit charges can sit near the 0.1% floor, one of the lowest effective SUTA costs of any state.
A couple of reminders. The 0.1% to 5.4% range is the base statutory band; check the rate on your annual Reemployment Tax Rate Notice for the figure that actually applies to your account. And Florida reemployment tax is an employer-only tax, never withheld from staff pay. Replace the 2.7% default above with your assigned rate to see your exact Florida liability.
Florida SUTA tax: frequently asked questions
What is the Florida unemployment (SUTA) taxable wage base for 2026?
For 2026, Florida employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages. Wages above $7,000 per employee are not subject to SUTA.
What is the Florida new employer SUTA rate?
New employers in Florida pay a SUTA rate of 2.7% until they have enough history to be experience-rated. On the $7,000 wage base that is up to $189.00 per employee per year.
How is Florida SUTA tax calculated?
Multiply each employee's wages, capped at the $7,000 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 Florida SUTA rate the same for every employer?
No. After the new-employer period, Florida assigns each employer an experience rate based on its history of layoffs and claims, generally ranging from about 0.1% to 5.4% 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
- Florida 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.