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ACH Debit - Automated Clearing House (ACH) Debit
ACH Debit means that an employer electronically directs the Department of Labor and Industry to have the state’s bank initiate the transfer of funds from the employer's bank account, previously registered with DOLI.
Employers may register to make tax payments via ACH Debit by contacting the Montana Department of Labor and Industry or by downloading this form: http://uid.dli.mt.gov/warp/ui_ach_registration_form.pdf
The online form is in an electronic format known as PDF. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat reader to open the PDF form, link to Adobe free download.
Employer Account Number
A unique number, issued by the Unemployment Insurance Division, to identify an individual employer and is 7 digits.
DOLI - Department Of Labor and Industry
The Montana Department of Labor and Industry will maintain WOW as part of its mission to continually simplify and improve the Unemployment Insurance tax reporting and payment process in Montana.
Excess Wages
The portion of an employee’s wages that exceed the Taxable Wage Base are considered Excess Wages. Employers are not required to pay taxes on an employee’s excess wages. Experience rated employers are only required to pay taxes on employee wages up to the amount specified in the Taxable Wage Base, an amount fixed and published by the Department of Labor and Industry. In 2009, the Taxable Wage Base is $25,100.
Governmental and reimbursable employers pay tax on total wages.
Experience Rated
Private, for-profit employers are experience-rated and must pay all three of the following Unemployment Insurance related taxes:
- State Unemployment Insurance Contributions - Each experience rated employer is assigned a contribution rate each year. All money collected from this tax is deposited into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. These funds may only be used to pay unemployment insurance benefits to qualified individuals.
- Administrative Fund Tax - This tax is assessed to help fund the operations of the Department of Labor and Industry including local Job Service offices. Effective January 1, 2008, the administrative fund tax rate for experienced rated employers is .13% (.0013) if the contribution rate for the employer is 0.00% and .18%(.0018) if the contribution rate is other than 0.00%.
- Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) (This tax is paid directly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to help finance the cost of running the state and Unemployment Insurance and Job Service programs.
A unique number issued by the federal government to identify an individual employer, 9 digits long.
Governmental Employer
Governmental entities may make tax payments based on the government experience rating system where their tax rate is applied to total wages. Governmental entities also pay a .05% (.0005) Administrative Fund Tax on total wages paid each quarter (see Reimbursable Employer).
Help
Hovering your mouse pointer over any Field Label or Button in WOW provides quick, brief Bubble Help. Help statements will appear in a popup yellow box for each field or button, as long as the mouse pointer remains motionless.
Out of State Wages
Wages paid in covered employment by a regular contributory employer are taxable unless the amount paid each employee exceeds the Montana taxable wage base. Taxable wages reported by an employer to another state(for an employee who subsequently has wages reported in Montana) can be used towards Montana's taxable wage base in the same calendar year.
Interest
Failure to send payment for taxes by the date due results in interest charges. Interest is charged at the rate of 1.5% per month or 18% a year.
Penalties
Failure to send in a report by the due date results in a late file penalty of $25.00 If a subpoena or estimated report is needed, a penalty of $50.00 is assessed. An additional penalty of $100.00 is assessed for failure to comply with a subpoena.
Montana Employers Unemployment (UI) Quarterly Wage Report - Form UI-5
This form is mailed quarterly to each employer subject to Unemployment Insurance. These forms must be completed and returned (postmarked) by the last day of April, July, October, and January.
Employers must file a report even if the employer did not pay any wages during the quarter.
Reimbursable Employer
Some non-profit organizations (that meet Internal Revenue code 501(c) (3) guidelines) may choose to reimburse the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund for benefit payment costs. Reimbursable employers must pay into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund an amount equal to the benefits charged to the employers account.
Reimbursable employers must submit quarterly wage reports and pay a .08% (.0008) Administrative Fund Tax on total wages paid each quarter. The Unemployment Insurance Division notifies reimbursable employers monthly of benefits charged to an employer’s account. Employers may pay the amount monthly, or pay the entire quarterly charges within thirty days following the end of the quarter.
SSN - Social Security Number
A number issued by the federal government to identify individual wage-earning or benefit-eligible United States citizens.
Tax Rate (How do I know mine?)
Private, for-profit employer tax rates are based on the contribution rate schedule and reserve ratio. All rate notices are mailed to each experience-rated employer by January of each year.
If you use WOW to file your UI Returns, WOW automatically "looks up" the tax rate for you.
Taxable Wage Base
The Taxable Wage Base is the amount of wages per employee, that an employer is liable to pay tax on each year. In 2009, the Taxable Wage Base is $25,100.
Employers pay taxes on wages up to and including the taxable wage base for each employee. After an individual employee’s wages reach the taxable wage base for that year, employers must continue to report the employee’s quarterly wages but are not required to pay taxes on any "excess" employee earnings above the $25,100 base.
Employers may file Quarterly Reports wherein taxes are no longer paid on employees who have exceeded the $25,100 base, while (in the same report) continuing to pay taxes on employees who have not yet reached the $25,100 base.
Transmitter
A transmitter is a business or representative of a business whose role includes typing and submitting employer data via WOW.
UI - Unemployment Insurance
A state of Montana program developed to collect and distribute funds paid by employers for unemployed workers in Montana who meet beneficiary criterion.
UI Account Number
A unique 7 digit number, issued by the state of Montana, Department of Labor & Industry, to identify an individual employer.
Wage
A general term that encompasses, but is not limited to, salaries, wages, bonuses, fees, commissions, vacation allowances, retroactive pay increases, and any other payments, unless exempted. The term "wages" also includes the cash value of any asset given to an employee as compensation for his/her service to the employer.
WARP - Wage Automated Reporting Program
WARP was originally designed to be distributed via diskette so that employers throughout Montana could download the program onto their office PC and use it to generate Quarterly Unemployment Insurance reports. The reports printed by the original WARP had to be mailed to the Department of Labor and Industry along with the employer’s payment. The basic concept of this program was redesigned to be used on the Internet and is called WOW.
WOW
WOW is an acronym for Warp On the Web. WOW is designed to allow employers to use the convenience of the internet to submit their quarterly unemployment insurance tax information.
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State of Montana - Department of Labor and Industry.Copyright ©1999 State of Montana. All rights reserved.
Revised: May 27, 2005.
