New York SUTA Tax Calculator
Figure basis: Official New York State Department of LaborState Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) tax is the state unemployment insurance tax that employers pay to fund unemployment benefits in New York. This calculator estimates your New York 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 $17,600 of each employee's wages (the 2026 New York 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 4.025%. 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 New York State Department of Labor and verified for 2026. Replace the default rate with the rate on your state tax-rate notice for an exact figure.
In New York, employers pay SUTA on the first $17,600 of each employee's wages for 2026, and a new employer pays 4.025%. For 5 employees earning $50,000 each at 4.025%, the estimated annual SUTA tax is $3,542.00 ($708.40 per employee).
How New York SUTA tax works
New York charges state unemployment tax on each employee's wages up to the taxable wage base of $17,600 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 4.025%.
taxable wages per employee = min(annual wages, $17,600)
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 New York at 4.025%. Each employee's taxable wages are capped at $17,600, so the tax per employee is $708.40 and the total is $3,542.00.
New York SUTA figures (2026)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable wage base | $17,600 | New York State Department of Labor |
| New employer rate | 4.025% | New York State Department of Labor |
| Experience rate range | 1.625% to 9.425% | New York State Department of Labor |
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 New York's low base and high rate together
New York pairs a low wage base with a comparatively high rate schedule, so employers who focus only on the base can underestimate the bill. For 2026 the taxable wage base is $17,600 per employee, meaning SUTA applies to just the first $17,600 you pay each worker. A new New York employer is assigned 4.025%, made up of the 3.4% normal rate plus the subsidiary contribution, which comes to about $708.40 per employee for the year.
Once you are experience-rated, New York sets your rate between 1.625% and 9.425% before add-ons, and layering in the 0.075% Re-employment Services Fund lifts the working range to roughly 1.7% through 9.5%. A clean record lands near the floor (about $286.00 per employee), while a claims-heavy record can reach the ceiling (about $1,658.80 per employee). Because that ceiling is more than five times the floor, controlling layoffs and contesting improper claims has real dollar value in New York.
Keep in mind that New York's wage base has climbed steadily in recent years and is likely to keep rising, so the tax you owe per worker can grow even if your rate holds steady. SUTA is an employer-only tax that is never deducted from pay. Enter the exact rate from your New York notice into the calculator above, applied to $17,600 per head, for a precise figure.
New York SUTA tax: frequently asked questions
What is the New York unemployment (SUTA) taxable wage base for 2026?
For 2026, New York employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $17,600 of each employee's wages. Wages above $17,600 per employee are not subject to SUTA.
What is the New York new employer SUTA rate?
New employers in New York pay a SUTA rate of 4.025% until they have enough history to be experience-rated. On the $17,600 wage base that is up to $708.40 per employee per year.
How is New York SUTA tax calculated?
Multiply each employee's wages, capped at the $17,600 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 New York SUTA rate the same for every employer?
No. After the new-employer period, New York assigns each employer an experience rate based on its history of layoffs and claims, generally ranging from about 1.625% to 9.425% 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
- New York unemployment taxable wage base and rates (tax year 2026): New York State Department of Labor, 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.