Wyoming Payroll Tax Guide (2026)
Wyoming takes nothing out of an employee’s paycheck at state level, but the unemployment wage base climbs every year and reached $33,800 for 2026, up from 32,400, with base rates running as high as 8.5% for employers who never finished registering.[2]
Wyoming payroll at a glance
Wyoming has exactly one state payroll tax on wages: unemployment insurance, paid entirely by the employer on the first $33,800 of each worker’s wages, with no income tax withholding and nothing deducted from employee pay.[2]
What changed for Wyoming payroll in 2026
Six items moved for Wyoming 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 Wyoming 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
Wyoming does not withhold state income tax from wages, so there is nothing to add here.
Payroll tax rates & the nexus question
Wyoming runs one state payroll tax. The table below is the whole state layer for 2026.[2]
The state payroll taxes
| Tax | Paid by | 2026 rate | Wage base |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI | Employer | 0.10%–8.50% | $33,800 |
Wyoming does not use lettered schedules. An employer with at least three years of account experience gets a base rate from its own benefit ratio, and an employer with less gets a base rate from its industry. Four additional rate factors are then added to the base rate to give the total rate for the calendar year. An employer that files reports before finishing registration is assigned the highest base rate, 8.5%.[2]
Who has to register
Employers register through the Joint Business Registration and are notified of their rate once registration is complete. Filing reports before registration is finished draws the maximum 8.5% base rate.[2]
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 Wyoming 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.[2]
How to register
- Cross the wage threshold→
- Wyoming Unemployment Insurance User Portal, WYUI, at wyui.wyo.gov, with ICESA bulk upload for payroll providers→
- Receive account number→
- Annual rate notice, sent to experienced employers no later than 31 December of the prior year; new employers are notified when registration is complete→
- File & deposit online
Employers register through the Joint Business Registration and are notified of their rate once registration is complete. Filing reports before registration is finished draws the maximum 8.5% base rate.[2]
Returns, reports & due dates
| Form | What it is | Due |
|---|---|---|
| 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, each becoming delinquent the next day. A return filed one day late is delinquent, and in most states the penalty attaches to the return, not the payment.[2]
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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.[2]
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 $33,800 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 Wyoming that is $33,800 for 2026. Earnings above it are still wages, they are simply no longer taxed for unemployment.
- Experience rating
- The method Wyoming Department of Workforce Services 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.
Wyoming 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 |
Wyoming 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.[12]
Layer 2: State
| Tax | Rate | 2026 base |
|---|---|---|
| UI, experienced | 0.10%–8.50% | $33,800 |
| Income tax | None on wages | n/a |
Layer 3, county & city: no payroll tax, but a wage floor
No county or city in Wyoming 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 $7.25 an hour, which is the federal floor, effective 2009-07-24. The tipped cash wage is $2.13. No local ordinance sets a higher floor. Wyoming’s own statutory minimum is $5.15 an hour, but the U.S. Department of Labor states that the federal 7.25 dollar rate applies to any employer subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which covers most Wyoming businesses. Treat 7.25 as the operating floor. No Wyoming city sets its own minimum wage.[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]
Wyoming payroll FAQs
No. Wyoming levies no personal income tax, so there is no state withholding, no state W-4 equivalent and no annual state reconciliation. The only deductions on a Wyoming paycheck are federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, plus whatever the employee has elected.
$33,800 per employee per calendar year, up from 32,400 in 2025. Wages above that are still reported but not taxed. The base has risen every year recently, from $27,300 in 2021, so it is worth confirming each January rather than assuming it held.
If you have at least three years of account experience your base rate comes from your own benefit ratio. With less experience the base rate comes from your industry. Four additional rate factors are then added to the base rate to produce the total rate for the year, and rates run from 0.10 to 8.50%. Experienced employers get their rate notice by 31 December for the following year.
By 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January, each becoming delinquent the following day. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday it moves to the next business day. Reports are filed through the WYUI portal, and payroll providers can bulk upload using an ICESA file.
$7.25 an hour in practice. Wyoming’s own statute still says $5.15, but the federal rate applies to any employer covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is most of them. The tipped cash wage is $2.13 with a maximum tip credit of $5.12, and tips must bring the employee to $7.25 an hour.
You get assigned the highest base rate available, which is 8.5%. Wyoming ties the rate assignment to completing the Joint Business Registration, and new employers are notified of their rate once that is done. Registering first is considerably cheaper than fixing it afterwards.
$33,800 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. Wyoming 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.
$7.25 an hour, which matches the federal floor. No local ordinance sets a higher rate. The tipped cash wage is $2.13.
April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31, each becoming delinquent the next day. 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
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Unemployment Taxable Wage Base
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Unemployment Tax Rates
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Reporting Due Dates
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Unemployment Insurance Division
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Wyoming Unemployment Insurance User Portal (WYUI)
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Employers, Unemployment Insurance
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Third Party and Payroll Provider FAQ
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services – Labor Standards Division
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – State Minimum Wage Laws
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration – Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, January 2026
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration – FUTA Credit Reductions
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – Salary Levels for the Executive, Administrative and Professional Exemptions
Need help with Wyoming payroll compliance?
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Running payroll in more than one state?
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