4th Quarter 2004

Reminder: The UI Quarterly News is no longer being mailed. The most current information regarding unemployment insurance, including current and previous newsletters, is available via the Internet at www.coworkforce.com/UIT/.

Hard copies are available through Unemployment Insurance (UI) Operations at:

303-318-9000 (Denver-metro area)

1-800-480-8299 (outside Denver-metro area)

www.coloradoworkforce.com/

Bill Owens

Governor

Jeffrey M. Wells

Executive Director

In accordance with the Colorado Employment Security Act (CESA) 8-76-102 (5)(a), the calendar year 2005 combined tax rate will include a solvency tax surcharge for all ratable employer accounts. 2005 is the second year the solvency tax surcharge is being assessed. The solvency tax surcharge is assessed and added to the standard or computed tax rate when the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund balance, on any June 30, is equal to or less than nine-tenths of one percent of the total wages reported by all ratable Colorado employers for the calendar year or the four-consecutive quarters prior to the last computation date. The surcharge increases in yearly increments as established by CESA 8-76-102 (5)(a) until the UI Trust Fund balance is greater than nine-tenths of one percent of the total wages. The solvency tax surcharge cannot exceed the rate limits set forth by CESA 8-76-102 (5)(b).

The UI Trust Fund is at a monetary level such that the base tax rate for calendar year 2005 is moving four tax-rate schedules, increasing tax rates for most employers. Notification via Form UITR-7, Notice of Employer’s Tax Rate, was mailed in November 2004. Form UITR-80, Notice of Tax Rate and Solvency Tax Surcharge for Calendar Year 2005, was included as an insert with the tax-and-wage-report packets for the third quarter of 2004. Form UITR-80 is also posted on the UI Tax home page along with a more detailed explanation of tax rates titled “Solvency Tax Surcharge and Its Impact on Tax Rates for Calendar Year 2005.”

All employers will receive Form UITR-7, Notice of Employer’s Tax Rate, by December 2004. The notice contains your new tax rate for calendar year 2005. Do not use your 2005 tax rate when calculating taxes for the fourth quarter of 2004.

After the Benefits release, employers will be able to provide wage information for an unlimited number of employees when filing the quarterly tax-and-wage report on the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Web site. Currently, you can file wage information for up to 100 employees. With the Benefits release, in addition to the ability to file wages for an unlimited number of employees, seasonal employers will have the capability to file tax-and-wage reports online.

The existing employer account number is being renamed the unemployment identification number (UID). With the Benefits release of the SUPER system, all new correspondence will be designed with the new UID. The current employer account number is nine digits with a dot and a dash. Two additional digits are added to the UID, for an 11-digit number. The format of the UID is strictly numerical. A dot or dash is not used. (Please note that descriptions of the UID format in previous newsletters included a dot and dash in the example.)

In the coming months, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Operations will be mailing important information to the mailing address and location address of record for all employers. Included in items to be mailed is a personal identification number (PIN), which will be required to perform maintenance functions on your account through our Web site. To ensure that you receive this information, it is important that the location address not be for a Power of Attorney or Tax Services Group. To verify that UI Operations has your correct mailing and location addresses, call 303-318-9100, or visit http://www.coworkforce.com. Select the E-Services link. Then select the Employer-Change-of-Business-Address link.

If you plan to submit tax and/or wage reports on forms developed by a software vendor for use with the new State Unemployment Program E-government Resource (SUPER) system, we cannot guarantee that UI Operations will accept these forms unless the replicated forms have been submitted for testing and approval. Without approval, forms developed by vendor companies cannot be ensured to conform to the requirements of the new SUPER system and may be rejected. It is ultimately your responsibility to submit tax-and-wage reports on forms acceptable to UI Operations.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s office building at 251 East 12^th Avenue is currently undergoing renovations. The lobby area is scheduled to be under construction from December 20, 2004 through April 30, 2005. Individuals scheduled to attend an appeal hearing during the renovation are encouraged to participate via telephone due to space limitations. If you choose to attend an appeal hearing in person during this time period, please be aware that there will be limited parking and waiting space.

Upon release of the State Unemployment Program E-government Resource (SUPER) system Benefits phase, Form UIS-339, Request for Job-Separation Information from Employer, will replace Form UIB-290, Request for Job-Separation Information. Form UIS-339 will contain a unique correspondence number and bar code. This bar code cannot be reproduced or reused; therefore, the original Unemployment-Insurance-Program-generated form must be returned.

In the past, there seems to have been some confusion about seasonal workers and seasonal-employer status. Remember that a worker who works even one day outside your designated seasonal period ceases to be a seasonal worker and could be entitled to receive unemployment insurance benefits based on all the wages you have paid during the base period, not only on the wages you have paid outside your seasonal period (Colorado Employment Security Act 8-73-106 [2]). This loss of designation as a seasonal worker is not necessarily permanent. If you employ the worker only during your next two designated seasonal periods, the worker becomes a seasonal worker again. Please be aware that, so long as you comply with the provisions of the law as outlined in the documents you received when seasonal status was granted, you do not lose your status as a seasonal employer even when some of your employees are not considered seasonal workers.

Please do not submit quarterly unemployment insurance tax payments that are less than $5.00. However, quarterly tax-and-wage reports must be submitted regardless of the amount owed.

To contact us, call 303-318-9100 (Denver-metro area) or 1‑800‑480‑8299 (outside Denver-metro area). For tax questions and issues related specifically to your account, send e-mail inquiries to unemp.tax@state.co.us.

Send comments or questions related to the genesis Project and the State Unemployment Program E-government Resource (SUPER) system through the genesis Employer mailbox at uiemployerinquiry@state.co.us. For issues not related to the SUPER system or the genesis Project, please continue to use the unemp.tax@state.co.us e-mail address for faster service. For questions relating to the Colorado Employment Security Act or the Regulations Concerning Employment Security, please send e-mails to unemp.tax@state.co.us.