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Unemployment taxes on businesses will increase in 2021, Florida Chamber of Commerce says

Employers paying the minimum tax rate will have to pay $13.30 more per employee in the new year, according to a news release.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla — Unemployment taxes are set to increase starting next year, according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce. 

In a news release sent Wednesday, the chamber said businesses paying the minimum tax rate for unemployment, 0.1 percent or $7 per employee, will have to pay $20.30 starting in January. 

This, according to the chamber, is because the Florida Department of Revenue has increased the minimum tax rate to 0.29 percent for 2021. That means employers paying the minimum tax rate would have to pay $13.30 more per employee next year.

According to the Florida Department of Revenue, the maximum tax rate allowed by law is 5.4 percent for the first $7,000 in wages, or $378 per employee. This will not change, the chamber said in its release.

10 Tampa Bay has reached out to the Department of Revenue for comment on the reported tax increase.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida has paid 2,119,166 claimants nearly $18.9 billion, according to the latest weekly reemployment summary from the DEO. 

According to the Florida Department of Economic Employment's latest employment report, 659,000 Floridians are without a job; and the state's unemployment rate sits at 6.9 percent in October. The state lost 1,178,100 jobs from February to April 2020 but has since gained more than half back, according to the DEO.

On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state would receive an additional $28 million in COVID-19 relief from the federal government. 

RELATED: Florida to get another $28 million in federal funding for COVID-19 relief

RELATED: Unemployed Floridians urge lawmakers to 'start acting like humans,' pass a second stimulus package

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