Nevada Payroll Tax Guide (2026)
There is no Nevada withholding certificate and no state income tax on wages, but employers pay unemployment insurance averaging 1.45% for 2026 plus a 0.05% Career Enhancement Program contribution, and Modified Business Tax at 1.17% on quarterly wages above $50,000.[6]
Nevada payroll at a glance
Nevada withholds no state income tax from wages, so the whole burden sits on employers: unemployment insurance plus the Career Enhancement Program on a 43,700 dollar base, and the Modified Business Tax on quarterly payroll.[6]
What changed for Nevada payroll in 2026
Six items moved for Nevada employers this year. Anything below is what have changed since the 2025 tables, so a rate card carried over from last year will be wrong in at least one place.
2026 Nevada payroll tax calculator
Enter one employee’s annual gross wages to see what the employer owes, what comes out of the paycheque, and the true cost of employment.
Employer pays
Withheld from the employee
Nevada does not withhold state income tax from wages, so there is nothing to add here.
Payroll tax rates & the nexus question
Nevada runs four state payroll taxes. The table below is the whole state layer for 2026.[6]
The state payroll taxes
| Tax | Paid by | 2026 rate | Wage base |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI | Employer | 0.25%–5.40%; 2.95% new | $43,700 |
| Career Enhancement Program | Employer | 0.05% | $43,700 |
| Modified Business Tax, general business | Employer | 1.17% | All wages |
| Modified Business Tax, financial institutions and mining | Employer | 1.554% | All wages |
The 2026 contribution rate schedule assigns 18 classes by reserve ratio, from 0.25% for an employer whose reserve ratio is 16.5% or more down to 5.40% for an employer whose reserve ratio is below negative 9.1%. At the adoption hearing the Employment Security Division put the average unemployment insurance contribution rate for calendar year 2026 at 1.45%, down from 1.65% in 2025, and 1.50% overall once the required 0.05% Career Enhancement Program contribution is added. The adopted 2026 average rate is 1.45%, or 1.50% including the mandatory 0.05% Career Enhancement Program contribution.[6]
Who has to register
Under NRS 612.055 an employing unit becomes an employer once it has paid or is liable to pay wages of $225 or more during any calendar quarter while employing one or more persons in subject employment.[6]
Multistate and remote employees
When an employee works in more than one state, the four-part test below decides which state the wages are reported to. The tests run in order: you stop at the first one that gives an answer.
- 1. Localisation of service→
- 2. Base of operations→
- 3. Place of direction & control→
- 4. Employee’s residence
One remote employee is usually enough. A single person working from home in Nevada generally creates an obligation to register and report wages here, even if the business has no office, property or customers in the state.
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Ask a Payroll SpecialistRegistration & return filing
Registration is online and free. The unemployment account and, where one exists, the withholding account are opened separately and carry different numbers.[6]
How to register
- Cross the wage threshold→
- Employer Self Service at ui.nv.gov→
- Receive account number→
- annual notice of employer contribution rate issued by the Employment Security Division→
- File & deposit online
Under NRS 612.055 an employing unit becomes an employer once it has paid or is liable to pay wages of $225 or more during any calendar quarter while employing one or more persons in subject employment.[6]
Returns, reports & due dates
| Form | What it is | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Employer’s Quarterly Contribution and Wage Report, filed through Employer Self Service | Quarterly unemployment return | April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31 |
| Form 941 | Federal quarterly return | Last day of the month after quarter end |
| Form 940 | Federal unemployment, annual | January 31 |
| New hire report | Report of newly hired employees | Within 20 days of start date |
Quarterly unemployment returns are due April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31. A return filed one day late is delinquent, and in most states the penalty attaches to the return, not the payment.[6]
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Subject wages vs. exempt payments
Not every dollar an employee receives is a taxable wage. The split below governs what goes into the unemployment wage base and what is reported at year end.[6]
Subject wages
- Salaries, hourly pay, overtime and piece rates
- Commissions, bonuses and incentive pay
- Most cash tips reported by the employee
- Vacation, holiday and paid sick leave when taken as wages
- Severance and payments in lieu of notice
- The cash value of meals and lodging provided as compensation
- Employer contributions to a non-qualified deferred compensation plan
Not subject
- Reimbursements of genuine business expenses under an accountable plan
- Employer contributions to a qualified retirement plan
- Employer-paid premiums for accident and health insurance
- Most third-party sick pay after the sixth calendar month
- Payments to a genuine independent contractor
- Workers compensation benefits
The wage base is per employer, per year, not per job. If you hire someone in August who already earned $43,700 elsewhere, your unemployment clock still starts at zero. The one exception is a successor employer taking over an existing payroll, who inherits the wages already paid.
Glossary of key terms
- Taxable wage base
- The slice of each employee’s annual pay that unemployment tax is calculated on. In Nevada that is $43,700 for 2026. Earnings above it are still wages, they are simply no longer taxed for unemployment.
- Experience rating
- The method Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, Employment Security Division uses to set each employer’s own unemployment rate from its history of claims. Employers with fewer charged claims move down the schedule; those with more move up.
- New employer rate
- The rate assigned before an employer has enough history to be experience rated. It normally applies for two to three years, then the account moves onto the experience schedule.
- Reserve account
- The running balance of contributions an employer has paid in, less the benefits charged against it. The ratio of that balance to taxable payroll is what drives the assigned rate.
- Successor employer
- A business that acquires another’s payroll may inherit both its experience rate and the wages already paid toward the wage base for the year. Getting this wrong is a common acquisition error.
- Localisation of service
- The first of four tests deciding which state a multistate employee’s wages are reported to. If substantially all the work is in one state, that state wins and the remaining tests are never reached.
- FUTA credit reduction
- A reduction in the 5.4% federal unemployment credit applied to states that have carried an outstanding federal loan for two or more consecutive Januaries. It raises the effective FUTA rate and is settled each November.
- Supplemental wages
- Bonuses, commissions, awards and similar payments made outside the regular payroll cycle. Many states set a separate flat withholding rate for them.
Nevada payroll tax, layer by layer
Federal tax applies everywhere and is the larger number. The state layer is what changes when you cross a border.
Layer 1: Federal
| Tax | Rate | 2026 base |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 6.2% each side | $184,500 |
| Medicare | 1.45% each side | No limit |
| Additional Medicare | 0.9% employee only | Over $200,000 |
| FUTA, standard | 0.6% net | $7,000 |
| Federal income tax | Per Form W-4 | No limit |
Nevada has no FUTA credit reduction for 2026, so the standard 0.6% net rate applies, $42 per employee. The final list is not published until 10 November 2026.[14]
Layer 2: State
| Tax | Rate | 2026 base |
|---|---|---|
| UI, new employer | 2.95% | $43,700 |
| UI, experienced | 0.25%–5.40% | $43,700 |
| Career Enhancement Program | 0.05% | $43,700 |
| Modified Business Tax, general business | 1.17% | All wages |
| Modified Business Tax, financial institutions and mining | 1.554% | All wages |
| Income tax | None on wages | n/a |
Layer 3, county & city: no payroll tax, but a wage floor
No county or city in Nevada levies its own payroll or income tax withheld by employers. The local layer shows up as minimum wage, not as tax.[9]
The state minimum wage is $12.00 an hour, effective 2024-07-01. The tipped cash wage is $12.00. No local ordinance sets a higher floor. One statewide rate applies and no Nevada city or county sets its own minimum wage. Nevada allows no tip credit, so tipped employees must receive the full $12.00 an hour in cash wages. The Labor Commissioner’s 2025 annual bulletin restated $12.00 effective 1 July 2025 and the Department of Labor’s table updated 1 July 2026 still shows $12.00, so there was no mid-2026 step up.[9]
Overtime exemption is a separate test. A salaried employee is exempt from overtime only above $35,568 a year ($684.00 a week) federal FLSA, and only if the duties test is also met. Paying a salary is not by itself enough.[13]
Nevada payroll FAQs
No. No individual income tax appears among the tax types the Nevada Department of Taxation administers, so there is no state withholding on wages, no state withholding certificate for new hires and no annual withholding reconciliation. You still withhold and deposit federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare as usual.
General business employers pay 1.17% of total gross wages less employer paid health care benefits, and only on the amount by which a calendar quarter’s wages exceed $50,000. Financial institutions and mining businesses pay 1.554% with no exemption. Every category files a return each quarter, due on or before the last day of the month following the quarter, whether or not tax is due.
It is an additional contribution required by NRS 612.606 to fund employment and training programs, set at 0.05% of the wages an employer pays on the same taxable wage base as unemployment insurance. It is why the Employment Security Division described the 2026 average employer cost as 1.50% overall rather than the 1.45% unemployment insurance average.
New employers pay 2.95% for 2026 on the first $43,700 of each worker’s wages, plus the 0.05% Career Enhancement Program contribution. You become a covered employer once you pay $225 or more in wages in a calendar quarter while employing one or more persons in subject employment.
No. Nevada allows no tip credit, so a tipped employee must receive at least $12.00 an hour in cash wages and keeps tips on top of that. The 12.00 dollar rate has applied since 1 July 2024 and no bulletin changed it on 1 July 2026.
An employee who earns less than $18 an hour, which is one and a half times the 12 dollar minimum wage, must be paid overtime for work over 8 hours in a 24 hour period as well as over 40 hours in a workweek. Employees at or above $18 an hour are subject only to the weekly rule.
$43,700 per employee per calendar year. Once an employee reaches that in wages from you, no further unemployment tax is due on that employee for the rest of the year. The count restarts on 1 January and does not carry over from a previous employer.
No. Nevada does not impose an income tax on wages, so there is no state withholding certificate, no deposit schedule and no annual reconciliation. Federal withholding still applies in full.
$12.00 an hour. No local ordinance sets a higher rate. The tipped cash wage is $12.00.
April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31. A return is delinquent the day after the deadline even if the tax itself was paid on time, so file the return whether or not you can pay.
Sources & methodology
- Nevada Department of Taxation – Modified Business Tax
- Nevada Department of Taxation – Modified Business Tax FAQs
- Nevada Department of Taxation – Modified Business Tax Wage Comparison Resumes January 1, 2026
- Nevada Department of Taxation – Tax Types
- Nevada Legislature – NRS Chapter 612, Unemployment Compensation
- Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation – Notice of Intent to Act Upon a Regulation, 2026 Unemployment Insurance Tax Rates
- Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation – Notice of Adoption Meeting Transcript, 2026 UI Tax Rates
- Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation – Employment Security Council Approved Meeting Minutes, 6 October 2025
- Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner – 2025 Annual Bulletin, Minimum Wage
- Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner – 2025 Annual Bulletin, Daily Overtime
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – State Minimum Wage Laws (updated July 1, 2026)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration – Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, January 2026
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – Fact Sheet 17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration – FUTA Credit Reductions
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