Florida reemployment tax is the state’s unemployment tax, and you owe it once you pay $1,500 or more in wages in a calendar quarter or have an employee during 20 different weeks of the year. Most new employers pay 2.7% on the first $7,000 each employee earns, which comes to $189 per employee per year. You register with the Florida Department of Revenue and file Form RT-6 every quarter.
Only the employer pays it; you can’t deduct it from wages. It funds the state unemployment trust fund, which pays temporary benefits to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. It used to be called unemployment compensation tax.
Who has to pay Florida reemployment tax?
You must register if any of these apply:
- You pay $1,500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter.
- You have at least one employee for any part of a day during 20 different weeks in a calendar year.
- You take over all or part of a business that was already subject to reemployment tax.
- You’re an agricultural employer paying $10,000 or more in cash wages in a quarter, or with 5 or more workers for any part of a day during 20 different weeks.
- You’re a domestic employer (household help, for example) paying $1,000 or more in cash wages in a quarter.
Sole proprietors with no employees don’t pay it, and neither does an LLC owner whose LLC is taxed as a sole proprietorship. In certain situations, corporate officers who are the sole shareholders and employees are exempt. Some nonprofit and government employers are too.
Do you pay it on yourself?
It depends on how your business is taxed.
Sole proprietors and single-member LLC owners don’t, because you aren’t an employee of your own business. Members of a multi-member LLC generally don’t either, unless the LLC elected corporate taxation.
If your LLC or corporation is taxed as an S corp and you work in it, yes. You take a reasonable salary, and that salary is subject to employment taxes, reemployment tax included. Owners who switch to S corp status for the payroll tax savings sometimes miss this.
Independent contractors aren’t employees, so you don’t pay reemployment tax on what you pay them. But if a contractor should really have been classified as an employee, you’re liable for the unpaid tax.
What’s the Florida reemployment tax rate?
New employers usually start at 2.7% of taxable wages. You stay at that rate until you have enough history for an experience rate, which is typically after 10 completed calendar quarters.
After that, your rate is based on your account’s history of unemployment claims, the balance of the state trust fund, and industry classification. Experience rates run from 0.1% to 5.4%, and the range can shift depending on how the fund is doing. Fewer claims against your account means a lower rate. High turnover pushes it up.
The tax only applies to the first $7,000 each employee earns in a year. Once someone passes $7,000, you owe nothing more on them until January.
A worked example
ABC Company LLC has five employees and a 2.7% rate. Here’s the first quarter:
| Employee | Q1 wages | Taxable wages (max $7,000) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | $7,000 |
| 2 | $12,000 | $7,000 |
| 3 | $8,000 | $7,000 |
| 4 | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| 5 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Total | $46,000 | $32,000 |
Tax due for Q1 is $32,000 × 2.7% = $864.
In Q2, employees 1 through 3 have already passed $7,000, so they add nothing. Only employees 4 and 5 still have taxable wages left. That’s why reemployment tax bills are front-loaded: most of the year’s cost lands in the first quarter or two.
How do you register?
Register within 10 days of becoming liable. Late registration can bring penalties.
- Go to floridarevenue.com.
- Select “Register a Business.”
- Create an account or log in.
- Choose “Employer/Reemployment Tax” as the registration type.
- Fill in the application and submit it.
You’ll need your legal business name and any DBA, federal EIN, business address, entity type, the date you became liable (first payroll or acquisition date) and NAICS industry code. You’ll also need each owner’s or officer’s name, SSN, address and ownership percentage, plus your number of employees, expected quarterly wages and pay frequency.
What does Florida Form RT-6 report?
Form RT-6, the Employer’s Quarterly Report, lists total wages paid, taxable wages (up to $7,000 per employee), the tax due, and each employee’s name, SSN and wages.
| Quarter | Period | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Jan 1 – Mar 31 | April 30 |
| Q2 | Apr 1 – Jun 30 | July 31 |
| Q3 | Jul 1 – Sep 30 | October 31 |
| Q4 | Oct 1 – Dec 31 | January 31 |
Most employers must file and pay electronically, either on floridarevenue.com or through approved payroll software. You can pay by ACH debit (the state pulls from your bank account), ACH credit (you send it from your bank) or credit card, which carries a fee.
File every quarter, even when you paid no wages. A quarter with no payroll still needs a “zero wage” report, and skipping it brings penalties even though no tax is due. This matters most for seasonal businesses, which file normally in busy quarters and zero-wage reports in the off-season.
If you already run payroll software, we’d let it file the RT-6, since it has the per-employee wage data and saves you retyping it.
What happens if you file or pay late?
| Problem | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Late filing | $50 or 10% of tax due, whichever is greater |
| Late payment | 10% of tax due, plus interest from the due date |
| Underreporting | 10% of the additional tax due, plus interest from the original due date |
If you keep not filing, the Department can issue estimated assessments and start collection actions, and willful failure can bring criminal penalties. You can’t opt out of the tax or waive coverage once you meet the thresholds.
Keep records for at least 5 years: your quarterly reports, total and taxable wages per employee per quarter, tax payments, employee names, SSNs and addresses, hire and separation dates, and the reason each person left.
How can you keep your rate low?
Your claims history drives your rate, so the levers are turnover and how you handle claims.
When a former employee files for unemployment, the state agency that handles claims (FloridaCommerce, formerly the Department of Economic Opportunity) notifies you. Respond by the deadline, typically 15 days, with whatever documentation you have. If the person quit voluntarily or was let go for misconduct, explain that, because those separations may not count against your account. If you don’t respond, benefits can be charged to your account by default.
Before anyone files, document performance problems ahead of a termination and hire carefully, since turnover generates claims. When your annual rate notice arrives, check it and protest if it looks wrong.
Construction employers often see higher rates, and they also face more scrutiny over how subcontractors are classified, so keep that paperwork clean. If you use a staffing agency, the agency is typically the employer responsible for reemployment tax on the workers it places with you.
How does it relate to FUTA?
| Feature | Florida reemployment tax | FUTA |
|---|---|---|
| Paid to | Florida DOR | IRS |
| Tax rate | 0.1% – 5.4% | 6.0% (0.6% after state credit) |
| Wage base | First $7,000 | First $7,000 |
| Filing | Quarterly (RT-6) | Annually (Form 940) |
Paying your Florida reemployment tax on time earns you a credit against FUTA that drops the federal rate from 6.0% to 0.6%.
Where to get help
For registration, filing and payment questions, contact the Florida Department of Revenue at floridarevenue.com or (850) 488-6800. For unemployment claims and employer responses, go to floridajobs.org.
If you’re forming a Florida LLC and plan to hire, IncCraft’s LLC formation services include guidance on employment tax registration, so your reemployment tax account is set up before your first payroll runs.