Official Site of The State of New JerseyAssessments
Assessments for various state funds have been authorized by the NJ legislature. Assessments fund programs that are not covered by the quarterly contributions. The assessments are not penalties and are not the result of an error. The same assessment rates apply to all employers. Some employers are not subject to all seven assessments. The party responsible for payment of assessments is the employer.
Payroll Tax Services generally do not pay these assessments for their clients. 2023 Assessments are scheduled to be mailed to employers in mid-September 2024.
If you need more information about assessments, please email us.
The employer, not the payroll company, is responsible for payment of assessment bills and being inactive does not relieve you of this obligation.
To pay the bill by mail, send us a check with the voucher attached to the notice you received.
To pay by e-check or credit card:
- Go to The Division of Revenue & Enterprise Services - Online Filing Service, enter your taxpayer ID and PIN and hit “Submit.”
- Choose “Pay a Labor Bill,” select 4th quarter and the year printed on the assessment bill, and hit “Submit.”
- For the Type of Labor Bill, use the drop down and select Combined Assessment Bill.
You can also pay by setting up or using your Premier Business Services account. Interest will be assessed on late payments.
If you need more information about assessments, please email us.
The State Plan 4F Deficit Assessment is levied to cover Unemployment/Disability Benefits paid to unemployed persons who have become disabled and thus have been rendered ineligible for unemployment benefits. This is not the same as regular unemployment or regular disability benefits. It comes from paragraph 4F of the Unemployment Law. Since 1971, funding for this unique program has been accomplished through assessments rather than by increased quarterly contributions. If the total annual benefit payments exceed assessment income, the resulting deficit is divided by the total Taxable Disability Wages of all of the employers. The resulting percentage is multiplied by the Taxable DI Wages reported by each individual company to arrive at the assessment amount for that particular company. In other words, the deficit is pro-rated back to each of the employers.
The Private Plan 4F Deficit Assessment is the same as the State Plan 4F Deficit Assessment but only applies to employers which have been approved to be self-insured for Disability. If an employer has an approved Private Disability Plan with an Insurance Company, the Insurance Company will be billed for this assessment.
The State Plan (Experience Rating) Costs Assessment funds the costs of compiling the data which allows employers in the State Plan Disability program to pay contributions to the fund relative to their experience rating (contributions paid, less benefits charged). This funding is accomplished through assessments rather than through increased quarterly contributions. These assessments began in 1952. The total costs of the experience rating operation are divided by the total taxable wages of all of the State Plan employers and the resulting rate is multiplied by the DI Taxable wages reported by each company for the previous calendar year to arrive at each company’s assessment amount.
The Private Plan Administrative Cost Assessment reimburses the Department of Labor and Workforce Development for costs incurred to oversee and approve Private Disability Plans. This assessment only applies to employers which are self-insured. If an employer has an approved Private Disability Plan with an insurance company, the insurance company will be billed for this assessment.
Employers with combination (both State & Private) disability plans may receive all of the disability assessments outlined above.
The Catastrophic Illness Fund Assessment (CIF) was created in 1987 by the NJ State Legislature to provide funds to families who have incurred extraordinary medical expenses due to a child’s illness. It is funded, by law, through assessments to all New Jersey employers. There are no exemptions to this assessment. The original rate was $1.00 per employee, per year. As of 2007, the rate is $1.50 per employee, per year, counted according to the individual Social Security numbers reported to the Department on the quarterly wage reports.
The Right to Know Assessment (RTK) started in 1986. This fund supports the costs of collecting information about the hazardous substances used, manufactured, stored and released from businesses in New Jersey. This information is collected, summarized and made available to the public and to emergency responders by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Only employers in certain industries are subject to this assessment. The NAICS Industrial Codes of subject employers were determined when the law was written. The assessment rate is $4 per employee, per year, but there is a $75 minimum assessment per year.
The Pollution Prevention Fund Assessment (PPC) covers the same employers as the Right to Know Fund. This assessment began in 1993. Subject companies must develop and submit to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) formal plans to voluntarily reduce their use and generation of hazardous substances that are not products. The assessment funds the administration of this program at DEP. The assessment rate is $2 per employee, per year, but there is no minimum assessment.
Below are the Rate Computations for the annual assessments levied on New Jersey Employers by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development according to various statutes.
The assessments are based on the wages reported in the calendar year shown on the bill.
If there is an assessment to which the employer is not subject, there will be no charge shown on the bill for that particular assessment.
State Plan 4 F Deficit Assessment/Private Plan 4 F Deficit Assessment: The Unemployment Disability Fund Deficit as of Dec. 31, 2023, was $20,980,624.00. This is divided by the total Disability Taxable Wages for Calendar Year 2023 $138,944,529,802.00 resulting in the assessment rate of .000151 applicable to all employers.
State Plan Experience Rating Assessment: The total Experience Rating costs for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2023 were $3,529,172.51. This is divided by the total State Plan Disability Taxable Wages for Calendar Year 2022, $98,447,740,494.33, resulting in the assessment rate of .000036 applicable to all State Plan employers who paid wages in 2022.
Private Plan Administrative Cost Assessment: The total costs for Private Plan Administration for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2023, were $3,916,668.29. This is divided by the total Private Plan Disability Taxable Wages paid during the same Fiscal Year $38,023,877,145.21, resulting in the assessment rate of .00011 applicable to Private Plan employers.
Catastrophic Illness Fund Assessment: The assessment rate is $1.50 for each employee Social Security number listed on the quarterly reports submitted for the calendar year 2023. Every employee is counted, whether full-time, part-time, or seasonal. Turnover will make the final count larger than any one quarter. Please compare this to the number of W-2's reported on your Federal Form W-3. If there is a (?) in place of the number of employees, we have not received all of the quarterly reports and had to arbitrarily assess your company. If you were arbitrarily assessed, please fax a copy of your Federal W-3 for 2023 and a copy of your Schedule H for household employees, or a copy of your company's tax return showing that there was no wage expense for the year. This information will enable us to correct your bill. All New Jersey employers are subject to this assessment.
Right-To-Know Fund Assessment: The assessment rate is $4 for each employee. The minimum assessment is $75 per company. Subjectivity depends on the company’s NAICS code.
Pollution Prevention Fund Assessment: The assessment rate is $2 for each employee during 2023. There is no minimum assessment. Subjectivity depends on the company’s NAICS code.
