Massachusetts delays unemployment tax deadline for business owners, buying time to address COVID-related increases
Updated 10:30 AM;
The Baker administration is giving business owners a brief reprieve in their unemployment taxes, delaying the payment deadline by a month, as state officials look into the massive increases in employer contribution rates.
The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance notified business owners Thursday night that the deadline to pay employer contributions had been pushed back to June 1, according to a copy of the notice provided to MassLive.
“The administration is further evaluating the solvency rate increase and will provide more information at a later date,” the notice states.
Massachusetts employers are getting a one-month reprieve on higher unemployment insurance premiums, and the delay will give Beacon Hill time to resume work on a plan to address sticker shock issues left unresolved in a just-approved law.
The Department of Unemployment Assistance notified employers Thursday night that first quarter payments, which were due on April 30, will instead be due on June 1. The delay gives businesses more time to prepare to make larger payments, and the Legislature time to address a spike in jobless system solvency assessments, which surprised some policymakers.
In the notice to employers, Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta and DUA Director Richard Jeffers said the Baker administration is further evaluating the solvency rate increase and will provide more information at a later date. In an email to members, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst said the group had been informed that DUA would issue emergency