Montana 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 Montana. This calculator estimates your Montana 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 $47,300 of each employee's wages (the 2026 Montana 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"); new employers are assigned the industry-average rate. 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 Montana, employers pay SUTA on the first $47,300 of each employee's wages for 2026, and new employers are assigned the industry-average rate. For 5 employees earning $50,000 each at 3%, the estimated annual SUTA tax is $7,095.00 ($1,419.00 per employee).
How Montana SUTA tax works
Montana charges state unemployment tax on each employee's wages up to the taxable wage base of $47,300 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; new employers are assigned the industry-average rate.
taxable wages per employee = min(annual wages, $47,300)
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 Montana at 3%. Each employee's taxable wages are capped at $47,300, so the tax per employee is $1,419.00 and the total is $7,095.00.
Montana SUTA figures (2026)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable wage base | $47,300 | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| New employer rate | Industry average | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| Experience rate range | 0% to 6.12% | 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.
Montana's high wage base and industry rates
Montana has the highest taxable wage base of this group: employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $47,300 of each worker's wages for 2026. That is more than five times the $9,000 base used in neighboring states like Missouri, which means a much larger slice of each salary is taxable and the wage base itself becomes a serious cost driver, not an afterthought. Even a low rate applied to $47,300 per employee adds up quickly across a payroll.
Rather than assigning every new business one flat rate, Montana starts new employers at the average rate for their industry, so a high-turnover sector such as construction begins higher than a low-claims office environment. That is why the rate field here is an editable example: your genuine starting rate depends on the industry class the Montana Department of Labor and Industry assigns you. Experience-rated employers fall within a band from 0% up to 6.12%, and Montana also adds a small administrative fund tax on top of the base unemployment rate.
For an accurate estimate, look up your assigned rate and industry classification on your Montana contribution-rate notice and enter it above. Because the $47,300 base is so high, the gap between a low and a high experience rate is measured in hundreds of dollars per employee each year, so keeping your claims record clean has an outsized payoff in this state.
Montana SUTA tax: frequently asked questions
What is the Montana unemployment (SUTA) taxable wage base for 2026?
For 2026, Montana employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $47,300 of each employee's wages. Wages above $47,300 per employee are not subject to SUTA.
What is the Montana new employer SUTA rate?
Montana assigns new employers the average rate for their industry rather than a single fixed rate, so your rate depends on your industry classification. Enter your assigned rate above to see your tax.
How is Montana SUTA tax calculated?
Multiply each employee's wages, capped at the $47,300 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 Montana SUTA rate the same for every employer?
No. After the new-employer period, Montana assigns each employer an experience rate based on its history of layoffs and claims, generally ranging from about 0% to 6.12% 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
- Montana 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.