How does Florida's reemployment tax work and what do I need to track as a small employer?

Florida calls its state unemployment tax “reemployment tax.” It works differently from most payroll taxes because it is entirely employer-paid. Your employees never see a deduction for it on their pay stubs. You owe it on the first $7,000 of wages you pay each employee during the calendar year. Once an employee crosses that $7,000 threshold, you stop owing reemployment tax on their wages for the rest of that year.

If you are a new employer in Florida, your initial rate is 2.7%. That means you will pay up to $189 per employee per year ($7,000 times 2.7%). After you have been in the system long enough to build a claims history, the Florida Department of Revenue recalculates your rate annually. If former employees file unemployment claims against your account, your rate goes up. If nobody does, it trends down. Rates can range from 0.1% to 5.4% depending on your experience.

You report and pay reemployment tax quarterly using the RT-6 form through the Florida Department of Revenue. Returns are due by the end of the month following each quarter, so April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Late filings trigger penalties and interest, so marking these dates on your calendar matters.

For tracking purposes, keep reemployment tax completely separate from federal unemployment tax (FUTA) in your books. FUTA has its own wage base ($7,000 as well, but the rate and credits work differently) and gets reported on Form 940 annually. Mixing the two together in a single payroll expense account makes reconciliation difficult and creates confusion at tax time. Set up distinct liability and expense accounts for each one so the numbers are always clear.

What you need to track per employee is straightforward. Record cumulative wages paid during the calendar year so you know when each person hits the $7,000 cap. Track the tax accrued each pay period and the payments made each quarter. If you are running payroll through a system like QuickBooks, most of this happens automatically once configured correctly. But you still need to verify the rate in the system matches the rate on your annual notice from the state, because it changes.

One thing that catches small employers off guard is the annual rate notice. Florida mails it toward the end of the year for the following year. If you miss updating your rate and keep using 2.7% when your actual rate dropped to 1.2%, you are overpaying. If your rate went up and you do not adjust, you will owe the difference plus potential penalties.

Whether you handle bookkeeping yourself or work with someone who specializes in inventory accounting in Orlando and broader small business finances, make sure your payroll records reconcile with your quarterly filings every single quarter. Catching a discrepancy in March is much easier than finding it during an audit two years later.