FAQs

Filing a Report

What are the business rules around when a Wage Report is due?

Employers are able to file wage reports for a quarter starting the first day of the quarter. (For example, SUITS will allow an Employer to file a wage report for Q1 2014 on January 1 2014).  The first day of each quarter is as follows:

•      January 1 (Q1)

•      April 1 (Q2)

•      July 1 (Q3)

•      October 1 (Q4)

The report is due by the end of the month following the close of the quarter.

Reporting Type

Do reimbursable employers need to submit Wage Reports?

Yes, both contributory and reimbursable employers must submit quarterly Wage Reports.

Report Amendment

When can an Employer or TPA can amend a report?

Reports from the last 16 quarters can be amended.

Report Amendment

How does an amended report affect subsequent reports?

If an employer amends a wage report and then and subsequent quarters have already been filed, SUITS will recalculate taxes due, interest, penalties, and credit for the amended quarter and any subsequent quarters for the year.

Taxes

How are UI taxes calculated?

UI taxes are calculated by multiplying the employer’s UI tax rate times the total taxable wages paid in the quarter. The taxable wage base in South Carolina is defined as the first $14,000 earned by each employee in a calendar year. The difference between total gross wages and taxable wages is excess wages. Employers are only liable to pay UI taxes on wages paid to an individual employee up to the taxable wage base. Employers do not have to pay UI taxes on excess wages.

Interest

How is interest accumulated?

Interest is charged at 1% per month starting the first day after the report due date. 

Interest on retroactive accounts will be charged at 0.5% interest for the quarters from the threshold met date through the registration date, the month following the registration date the employer will be charged at 1% interest.   The Current quarter report, if not received timely, will be charged at 1% interest.

Dummy SSNs

What happens if an employer submits a report with missing SSNs or an SSN of 999-99-9999?

If an employer submits a report with missing SSNs, SUITS will assign a dummy SSN to the employee. The dummy SSN will begin with a -1. SUITS will allow an employer to submit a report with an SSN of 999-99-9999 (this is a SSN used when an employee is waiting for an SSN to be assigned from the federal government). SUITS will initiate a ‘Review Dummy SSN workflow if it receives a wage report with a dummy SSN or an SSN of 999-99-9999 in order to approve the wage report.

Agent Submits Wage Report

When can an Agent submit a report on behalf of an employer?

Only employers who have given the Agent the Wage Submission role will be able to submit reports on behalf of employer.  The role must be in effect for the period for which the wages are filed. (For example, if an employer has given an Agent the ability to file the first quarter 2016 wages, but the Agent submits a file with the second quarter 2015, those records will not be accepted by SUITS).

Workflow – Review TPA Timeliness

When does the SC DEW need to review the timeliness of an agent-submitted report?

For SC: SUITS will create a workflow for staff to review the timeliness of the TPA Original Submission if the TPA File submission date is after the due date but within a configurable timeliness factor review period. (This workflow allows staff to override the TPA report submission date).

Ex|| Configurable review period is set at 5 days. Any TPA reports submitted up to five days after the due date will create a workflow and allow staff to approve the timeliness of the submission.

Ex|| If there are records with 0 file types, and the submission date is past due, then create a workflow. Do not create a workflow if all the records on TPA file are not equal to 0.

Correspondence

What correspondence is associated with Wage Reports?

Determination of Amended Wages – this is a correspondence that is sent to an employer when staff amends the wages on an employer’s account due to audit/disputes/1099 issues. The correspondence is generated via a batch job and mailed to the employer’s mailing address.

Paper Submission Wage Report – this is a paper/hard-copy version of Wage report generated on-demand for employers who request paper report submission. The employer may prefer a paper report because they do not have an online account.

Reports

What reports are associated with Wage Reports?

Agent File Submission Report – this is a report that the TPA receives in the self-service portal upon wage report file upload submission. The report contains upload date, file date/type, and number of employer’s processed/rejected/duplicate in the report. The report is found in the Reports menu item.

Employer File Submission Report – this is a report that the employer receives in the self-service portal upon wage report file upload submission. The report contains upload date, file date/type, number is SSNs successfully processed, number of SSNs rejected in the file and the status in the report. The report is found in the Reports menu item.

Wage Report Summary - This report is generated for employers and TPAs on the employer self-service portal after a wage report has been successfully processed.

Interface Files

What Interface Files are associated with Wage Reports?

The file valid interface file types are CSV, XML, and ICESA & EFW2.