Written by Chad Pfeiffer, Senior Accountant

Attention business owners in the insurance and real estate industries: Did you know that employees who are paid solely by commission from services performed as an agent are exempt from State Unemployment Taxes (SUTA)?  Owners of these businesses who are also considered employees for tax purposes might also qualify for this exemption!

How “SUTA” taxes are paid:

Each quarter, employers file a quarterly return with the Nebraska Department of Labor submitting taxes based on wages paid to employees. During each calendar year, every employee is taxed on the first $9,000 of their wages. In 2012, the highest tax rate an employer can pay on each employee’s first $9,000 is 6.49%. This would amount to $584 per employee for the year. The timing of the first $9,000 wage payments determines when the taxes are required to be submitted to the Nebraska Department of Labor.

If you feel you are exempt:

If you are a business owner and feel that you have employees meeting the above qualifications, and/or qualify yourself, please contact our office. It is important to determine if your taxes have been filed correctly in the past and ensure they are filed correctly going forward. Not only can we review your past tax filings for exemption qualifications, we may also be able to help reduce future tax liabilities.

As always, should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact HBE at 402.423.4343.