How Do I Know If I Am Liable For Unemployment Taxes?

Every employing unit that begins business operations in Kansas is required to file form K­CNS 010, Status Determination Report, within 15 days of the date of first employment. Upon receipt of the completed form, a determination of employer liability will be made. You may use the online service to complete a Status Determination Report, K­CNS 010, apply for a state unemployment tax number, or report changes to your existing account. Login or registration is required for utilizing the online tax services.

You are automatically liable for coverage if you:

• you acquire all, or substantially all of the employing enterprises, organizations, trade or business, or substantially all of the assets of another employer subject to this act.
• you acquire less than 100 percent of an employer’s annual payroll when the partial successor employing unit is controlled substantially by the same interests as the predecessor employer and intends to continue the acquired portion as an ongoing business.
• you are liable to the federal government for Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA).
• you are a state or local governmental organization or an instrumentality of a state or local government or Indian Tribe.

You will establish liability for coverage if:

• your employment is in a business other than agricultural, domestic, or certain qualifying nonprofit organizations, and you have one or more employees who work for any portion of a day in 20 different weeks in a calendar year, or if your gross payroll for any calendar quarter is $1,500 or more.
• your employment is agricultural, and you employ 10 or more workers in any portion of 20 different weeks in a calendar year, or have a payroll of $20,000 or more cash wages in any one calendar quarter.
• your employment is domestic service performed in a private home, local college club, fraternity or sorority, and you have a quarterly payroll of $1,000 or more cash wages in any one calendar quarter.
• you qualify as a nonprofit organization for unemployment insurance purposes. To qualify, you must have been issued a 501(c)(3) exemption letter by the Internal Revenue Service and employ four or more workers in any portion of 20 different weeks in a calendar year.
• your employment follows a period of less than three years’ inactivity in which your previously established unemployment insurance account was never officially terminated.
• you are not otherwise subject to the taxing provisions of the law and you voluntarily elect to become a covered employer for a period of not less than two calendar years.

Refer to the Employer Handbook for detailed information.