The North Carolina Unemployment Insurance Oversight Committee has introduced a bill to retroactively lower 2021 unemployment tax rates for all employers in the state.
Senate Bill DRS35052 was introduced in the February 17, 2021 General Assembly Session and is still in draft form at the moment. However, this bill is getting full support from the North Carolina Division of Employment Security as well as employers within the state who have seen a drastic increase in their state unemployment tax rates from 2020 to 2021. All this even though the NC DES excluded COVID-related benefit charges from the 2021 tax rate calculation.
If passed, SB DRS35052 will reduce the base contribution rate from 2.40% to 1.90% thus causing rates to fall back to 2020, pre-pandemic levels. Although this bill is still in its infancy, the NC DES has reportedly begun internal testing in order to issue revised, retroactive tax rate calculations upon its passage.
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