South Carolina 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 South Carolina. This calculator estimates your South Carolina 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 $14,000 of each employee's wages (the 2026 South Carolina 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%. 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 South Carolina, employers pay SUTA on the first $14,000 of each employee's wages for 2026, and a new employer pays 1%. For 5 employees earning $50,000 each at 1%, the estimated annual SUTA tax is $700.00 ($140.00 per employee).
How South Carolina SUTA tax works
South Carolina charges state unemployment tax on each employee's wages up to the taxable wage base of $14,000 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%.
taxable wages per employee = min(annual wages, $14,000)
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 South Carolina at 1%. Each employee's taxable wages are capped at $14,000, so the tax per employee is $140.00 and the total is $700.00.
South Carolina SUTA figures (2026)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable wage base | $14,000 | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| New employer rate | 1% | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| Experience rate range | 0% 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.
Where South Carolina SUTA lands for employers
South Carolina keeps state unemployment tax light for most employers. The taxable wage base is $14,000, so tax applies only to the first $14,000 of each worker's annual wages, and a new employer is assigned a 1% rate until the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce has enough history to experience-rate the account. A full year at the new-employer rate therefore costs at most $14,000 times 1%, or $140.00 per employee, among the more modest first-year SUTA bills in the country.
South Carolina's experience-rated schedule is unusually wide at the bottom: the range runs from 0% to 5.4%, meaning the best-rated employers can owe no state unemployment tax at all in a given year, while those with heavy claim histories approach the 5.4% ceiling. The state sorts employers into rate classes each year and funds a separate contingency and interest surcharge outside the base schedule, so your effective cost can differ slightly from the headline rate. As always, the rate on your annual tax-rate notice is the figure that produces an exact number.
Treat the 1% default above as a planning placeholder, not a promise: replace it with your assigned rate once you receive your notice. South Carolina SUTA is paid entirely by the employer and is never deducted from employee wages, and it is separate from the federal FUTA tax you also owe on the first $7,000 of each worker's pay.
South Carolina SUTA tax: frequently asked questions
What is the South Carolina unemployment (SUTA) taxable wage base for 2026?
For 2026, South Carolina employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $14,000 of each employee's wages. Wages above $14,000 per employee are not subject to SUTA.
What is the South Carolina new employer SUTA rate?
New employers in South Carolina pay a SUTA rate of 1% until they have enough history to be experience-rated. On the $14,000 wage base that is up to $140.00 per employee per year.
How is South Carolina SUTA tax calculated?
Multiply each employee's wages, capped at the $14,000 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 South Carolina SUTA rate the same for every employer?
No. After the new-employer period, South Carolina assigns each employer an experience rate based on its history of layoffs and claims, generally ranging from about 0% 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
- South Carolina 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.