SUE tax Law & Legal Definition

State unemployment taxes are paid to the state workforce office or state department of labor. Most states base unemployment taxes on the federal tax requirements. A few states have different requirements for when unemployment taxes must be paid. Employers are liable to pay state unemployment taxes if:

Employed one or more individuals who worked at least 20 (not necessarily consecutive) calendar weeks during the current or preceding tax year or

Paid at least $1,500 in employee wages during any quarter. If an employee wage pool exceeds $1,500 in November of a given year, employer is required to pay federal unemployment taxes for that entire year - not just for November and December - as well as for the next year.