North Carolina Department of Commerce
Division of Employment Security
Division of Employment Security
Business Services
If you have questions or comments about this website, or wish to report a problem, please contact esc.portal@ncesc.gov.
What Secured Services are available online?
Secured services provide access to your or, for remitters, your client's sensitive account
information. For these services to be available online, we must ensure through the login
process that you are authorized to access this information. Both interactive and inquiry
functions are available. Listed below are the secured services currently available to our
business customers.
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Unemployment Claim Separation Information Request Provide separation information for individuals filing a claim for benefits against your account (Form NCUI 500AB). |
| Attached Claims File claims for workers who are temporarily laid off (attached workers) from your business. |
| Separated Claims File claims for workers who are permanently laid off from your business. ESC will not send Form NCUI 500 AB – “Notice of Claim and Request for Separation Information” for claims submitted in this manner. |
| Respond to Wage Audit Notice Provide wage information in response to a claim audit from ESC. Your prompt and correct response to Form NCUI 528 ensures the integrity of North Carolina’s Unemployment Insurance program. |
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Change in Status (NCUI 101A) Request updates to your business name, physical location, address, reporting status, or contact information. |
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File or Review Quarterly Tax & Wage Report File and pay your Employer's Quarterly Tax and Wage Report (Form NCUI 101). |
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Tax and Wage Report Status View the status of tax and wage reports posted to your account for a maximum of 23 quarters prior to the current calendar quarter. |
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Accounts Receivable Status View the status of all outstanding unemployment insurance tax bills for your account. |
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Accounts Payable Status View the status of all pending unemployment insurance tax refunds for your account. |
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Account Status View the status of your account including mailing address, contact information, tax auditor serving your account, physical location and special claims notification address. |
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Current Tax Rates View the current tax rates assigned to your account. |
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Tax Rate Assignment Ledger View the latest Form NCUI104, Unemployment Tax Rate Assignment ledger created for your account. |
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FUTA Recertification Request Request a Form 940-C, Employer Account Abstract, certifying state unemployment tax credits for the current calendar year and up to five prior calendar years. This online form will be accepted by the Internal Revenue Service as an authorized certification of tax credits. |
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Voluntary Contribution Calculator Calculate your potential tax savings online. |
Unemployment Insurance Questions
| How do I apply for a North
Carolina unemployment tax number? Each employer in the state of North Carolina must complete Form NCUI 604, Employer Status Report and submit this form for a determination of liable status. This form is available as an Online Application, which will provide you with a quick determination; or you may download a copy of the form to complete and mail to ESC. See Unemployment Insurance Tax Information to learn more about this subject. |
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What will my tax rate be? Each employer's tax rate is assigned based on the rate schedule in force and his/her own experience. Experience includes length of liability, tax payments, wages paid, timeliness of payments, and benefit payments charged. See Unemployment Insurance Tax Information to learn more about this subject. |
| When can an employer request
noncharging of unemployment benefits? Experience rated employers can request that unemployment benefits not be charged to their accounts in certain situations. See Unemployment Insurance Claims Information to learn more about this subject. |
| When should I expect to receive my annual tax rate notice? Tax rate notices are generally mailed to employers each year between November 15 and November 30. The notices for the 2012 tax year were mailed out on November 29, 2011 to approximately 196,000 employers. Of this number, 75% of the tax rates remained the same or decreased from the 2011 tax year. The remaining 25% reflect a tax increase from last year. |
| Is this mailing related in any way to my Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)? No, the tax rate you receive from the Division of Employment Security is only for the State Employment Taxes (SUTA) due. Additional questions relating to FUTA tax and the FUTA tax return (IRS Form 940) should be directed to the IRS. |
FUTA CHANGES FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2011
| I have heard about changes to IRS Form 940 (FUTA) for 2011. Why? Due to recent economic conditions, North Carolina, as well as many states, had to borrow money from the federal government in order to meet Unemployment Insurance benefits obligations. As a result, there will be a reduction in the credit North Carolina employers receive toward their Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) taxes for calendar year 2011. Federal law requires this reduction when a federal loan taken to meet state unemployment insurance benefit payments is not repaid within two years. For the calendar year 2011, this credit reduction will be 0.3%. The increased revenue associated with this reduced credit will be used by the federal government to repay the loan. |
| How will changes to IRS Form 940 (FUTA) affect North Carolina employers? Because the FUTA surcharge of 0.2% was allowed to expire on June 30, the statutory FUTA tax rate for 2011 is 6.2 % from January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011 and 6.0% from July 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011. During recent years, employers who paid their state unemployment insurance taxes in a timely manner received a credit of 5.4 %, thereby paying a FUTA tax of 0.8%. However, as described above, this credit will be reduced to 5.1%, thereby requiring all North Carolina employers to pay a FUTA tax rate of 1.1% from January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011 and 0.9% from July 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011. |
| Is North Carolina the only state in debt to the Federal Government for unemployment loans? North Carolina is one of 37 states who have had to borrow from the federal government to continue making unemployment insurance benefits. |
| All payments require that you log into the Business Services secure area. |
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How
do I make a payment using eCheck? An employer can make a tax payment or pay an accounts receivable using the eCheck payment method. The employer will supply their bank routing number and bank account number each time this payment method is used. The bank information is not retained for security reasons.See eCheck Tax FAQ or eCheck AR FAQ for more information. |
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How
do I pay my Unemployment Insurance tax using Electronic Funds Transfer(EFT)? An employer can make a tax payment or pay an outstanding accounts receivable using the Debit ACH payment method. See the EFT FAQ for more information.  Pay UI tax with EFT |
| — Only experienced-rated employers are eligible to make the voluntary contribution. New employers’ rates are set, by law, at 1.2 percent for approximately two years. |
| — Voluntary contributions will be applied to the balance of employers’ UI tax account. Employers have 30 days to make a voluntary tax contribution to reduce their tax rate. |
| — Employers are advised to visit the ESC’s voluntary contribution calculator. The calculator allows each employer to assess the dollar amount they will have to pay to achieve a certain tax rate, enabling them to determine what tax savings might be beneficial for their company. |
| — For more information, or if you have any further questions, please contact your field tax representative or contact the ESC Tax Status Unit at (919) 707-1170. |
Still have a Question?
If you have not found what you are looking for on this page, please check our other
FAQs for more information. Or
contact ESC for further assistance.
| Individual Services FAQs |
| Labor Market Information FAQs |
| Public & Media Information FAQs |