288.036. Wages defined--state taxable wage base. - Missouri Statutes

Wages defined--state taxable wage base.

288.036. 1. "Wages" means all remuneration, payable or paid, forpersonal services including commissions and bonuses and, except as providedin subdivision (7) of this section, the cash value of all remuneration paidin any medium other than cash. Gratuities, including tips received frompersons other than the employing unit, shall be considered wages only ifrequired to be reported as wages pursuant to the Federal Unemployment TaxAct, 26 U.S.C. Sec. 3306, and shall be, for the purposes of this chapter,treated as having been paid by the employing unit. Severance pay shall beconsidered as wages to the extent required pursuant to the FederalUnemployment Tax Act, 26 U.S.C. Section 3306(b). Vacation pay and holidaypay shall be considered as wages for the week with respect to which it ispayable. The term "wages" shall not include:

(1) The amount of any payment made (including any amount paid by anemploying unit for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide forany such payment) to, or on behalf of, an individual under a plan or systemestablished by an employing unit which makes provision generally forindividuals performing services for it or for a class or classes of suchindividuals, on account of:

(a) Sickness or accident disability, but in case of payments made toan employee or any of the employee's dependents this paragraph shallexclude from the term wages only payments which are received pursuant to aworkers' compensation law; or

(b) Medical and hospitalization expenses in connection with sicknessor accident disability; or

(c) Death;

(2) The amount of any payment on account of sickness or accidentdisability, or medical or hospitalization expenses in connection withsickness or accident disability, made by an employing unit to, or on behalfof, an individual performing services for it after the expiration of sixcalendar months following the last calendar month in which the individualperformed services for such employing unit;

(3) The amount of any payment made by an employing unit to, or onbehalf of, an individual performing services for it or his or herbeneficiary:

(a) From or to a trust described in 26 U.S.C. 401(a) which is exemptfrom tax pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 501(a) at the time of such payment unlesssuch payment is made to an employee of the trust as remuneration forservices rendered as such an employee and not as a beneficiary of thetrust; or

(b) Under or to an annuity plan which, at the time of such payments,meets the requirements of Section 404(a)(2) of the Federal Internal RevenueCode (26 U.S.C.A. Sec. 404);

(4) The amount of any payment made by an employing unit (withoutdeduction from the remuneration of the individual in employment) of the taximposed pursuant to Section 3101 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code (26U.S.C.A. Sec. 3101) upon an individual with respect to remuneration paid toan employee for domestic service in a private home or for agriculturallabor;

(5) Remuneration paid in any medium other than cash to an individualfor services not in the course of the employing unit's trade or business;

(6) Remuneration paid in the form of meals provided to an individualin the service of an employing unit where such remuneration is furnished onthe employer's premises and at the employer's convenience, except thatremuneration in the form of meals that is considered wages and required tobe reported as wages pursuant to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, 26U.S.C. Sec. 3306 shall be reported as wages as required thereunder;

(7) For the purpose of determining wages paid for agricultural laboras defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of subsection 12 of section288.034 and for domestic service as defined in subsection 13 of section288.034, only cash wages paid shall be considered;

(8) Beginning on October 1, 1996, any payment to, or on behalf of, anemployee or the employee's beneficiary under a cafeteria plan, if suchpayment would not be treated as wages pursuant to the Federal UnemploymentTax Act.

2. The increases or decreases to the state taxable wage base for theremainder of calendar year 2004 shall be eight thousand dollars, and thestate taxable wage base in calendar year 2005, and each calendar yearthereafter, shall be determined by the provisions within this subsection.On January 1, 2005, the state taxable wage base for calendar year 2005,2006, and 2007 shall be eleven thousand dollars. The taxable wage base forcalendar year 2008 shall be twelve thousand dollars. The state taxablewage base for each calendar year thereafter shall be determined by theaverage balance of the unemployment compensation trust fund of the fourpreceding calendar quarters (September thirtieth, June thirtieth, Marchthirty-first, and December thirty-first of the preceding calendar year),less any outstanding federal Title XII advances received pursuant tosection 288.330, less the principal, interest, and administrative expensesrelated to any credit instrument issued under section 288.030, and less theprincipal, interest, and administrative expenses related to any financialagreements under subdivision (17) of subsection 2 of section 288.330. Whenthe average balance of the unemployment compensation trust fund of the fourpreceding quarters (September thirtieth, June thirtieth, Marchthirty-first, and December thirty-first of the preceding calendar year), asso determined is:

(1) Less than, or equal to, three hundred fifty million dollars, thenthe wage base shall increase by one thousand dollars; or

(2) Six hundred fifty million or more, then the state taxable wagebase for the subsequent calendar year shall be decreased by five hundreddollars. In no event, however, shall the state taxable wage base increasebeyond twelve thousand five hundred dollars, or decrease to less than seventhousand dollars. For calendar year 2009, the tax wage base shall betwelve thousand five hundred dollars. For calendar year 2010 and eachcalendar year thereafter, in no event shall the state taxable wage baseincrease beyond thirteen thousand dollars, or decrease to less than seventhousand dollars.

For any calendar year, the state taxable wage base shall not be reduced toless than that part of the remuneration which is subject to a tax under afederal law imposing a tax against which credit may be taken forcontributions required to be paid into a state unemployment compensationtrust fund. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the wagebase from increasing or decreasing by increments of five hundred dollars.

(L. 1951 p. 564 § 288.030, A.L. 1957 p. 531 § 288.037, A.L. 1965 p. 420, A.L. 1972 S.B. 474, A.L. 1975 S.B. 325, A.L. 1977 H.B. 707, A.L. 1979 S.B. 477, A.L. 1984 H.B. 1251 & 1549, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1577, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1485, A.L. 1993 H.B. 502, A.L. 1994 S.B. 593, A.L. 1995 H.B. 300 & 95, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1368, A.L. 1997 H.B. 472, A.L. 2004 H.B. 1268 & 1211, A.L. 2006 H.B. 1456)

Effective 10-01-06

(1993) Federally mandated payments made pursuant to federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) are not considered termination or severance pay and are fully deductible from Missouri unemployment benefits. Labor and Industrial Relations Commission v. Division of Employment Security, 856 S.W.2d 376 (Mo.App.E.D.).