NH businesses to get cut in tax that pays jobless benefits
Oct. 19—CONCORD — All businesses will see a 30% cut in the state payroll taxes they pay to support jobless benefits, Gov. Chris Sununu announced Wednesday.
A state law automatically triggers this reduction once the surplus in the Unemployment Trust Fund reaches $250 million.
As of Oct. 1, the surplus was more than $300 million higher than the fund's balance before the pandemic.
At the peak of the pandemic, 23% of the workforce in New Hampshire was collecting unemployment, and paid jobless claims were nearly 30 times what they were before COVID-19.
All employers pay this tax quarterly at a rate based on both payroll and the company's past use of the unemployment trust fund.
Federal grants backed up about 85% of the unemployment payments paid in New Hampshire during the pandemic, but the state's own fund paid out more than $300 million over the same period.
At its low ebb in 2020, the trust fund was at $90 million, Employment Security Commissioner George Copadis said.
