SB-1272, As Passed Senate, September 20, 2012
September 13, 2012, Introduced by Senators JANSEN and BRANDENBURG and referred to the Committee on Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing.
A bill to amend 1936 (Ex Sess) PA 1, entitled
"Michigan employment security act,"
by amending section 13 (MCL 421.13), as amended by 2011 PA 269.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 13. (1) Each employer subject to this act shall pay to
the unemployment agency a tax in the form of payments in lieu of
contributions where the employer is liable for those payments, or
tax contributions equal to a standard rate of 2.7% for calendar
years before 1985 and 5.4% for calendar year 1985 and thereafter,
subject to an adjustment in rate of contributions as provided in
section 19. The contributions shall become due and be paid to the
unemployment agency, for the unemployment compensation fund, by
each employer semiannually or for shorter periods of not less than
28 days, as the unemployment agency may by rule prescribe.
Contributions due and payable from an employer that is liable under
this act solely on the basis of the payment of wages for domestic
service may be paid annually on the date specified by the
unemployment
agency. Contributions, and payments in lieu of
contributions,
shall be credited first to penalty; then to
interest;
and then to principal, unpaid and owing in the oldest
calendar
quarter and progressing each quarter to the most recent
quarter.
An obligation assessment
payment made pursuant to section
10a or a contribution payment made pursuant to this section shall
be credited first to interest on the obligation assessment and then
to the obligation assessment, with those payments applied to
amounts unpaid and owing in the oldest calendar quarter and
progressing each quarter to the most recent quarter. Any remainder
shall be credited first to penalties on contributions, then to
interest on contributions, and then to contribution principal, with
those payments applied to amounts unpaid and owing in the oldest
calendar quarter and progressing each quarter to the most recent
quarter. An employer's contribution shall not be deducted directly
or indirectly, in whole or in part, from wages of individuals in
his or her employ. A contribution payment amount that is not an
even dollar amount shall be credited to the account of the employer
in an amount equal to the next lower dollar amount if under 50
cents and in an amount equal to the next higher dollar amount if 50
cents or more. The unemployment agency may prescribe by rule the
details of the computation and payment of contributions. Every
employing unit shall file with the unemployment agency periodic
reports on forms and at a time the unemployment agency prescribes
to disclose liability for contributions under this act. Each
employing unit shall keep records, including wage and employment
records, and shall, within prescribed time limits, submit or
provide reports, including wage and employment reports, to the
unemployment agency or to the employing unit's employees or former
employees as the unemployment agency prescribes by rule.
(2) Beginning with the first quarter of 1986, each employer
shall file a quarterly wage report with the unemployment agency, on
forms and at a time as the unemployment agency prescribes, which
shall include for each of the employer's employees the employee's
name, social security number, gross wages paid during each quarter,
and the name, address, and federal and state employer
identification number of the individual's employer. If the
unemployment agency discovers an error in a report filed timely,
the unemployment agency shall provide written notification to the
employer of the error. If the employer provides corrected
information within 14 days of the notification, the administrative
fine provided in section 54 for a late, incomplete, or erroneous
report shall not apply. An employer having more than 25 employees
on January 1, 2013 shall file quarterly reports beginning with the
report for the first quarter of 2013 by an electronic method
approved by the unemployment agency. An employer having more than 5
but fewer than 26 employees on January 1, 2013 shall file quarterly
reports beginning with the report for the first quarter of 2014 by
an electronic method approved by the unemployment agency. An
employer having 5 or fewer employees on January 1, 2013 shall file
quarterly reports beginning with the report for the first quarter
of 2015 by an electronic method approved by the unemployment
agency, except that the director of the unemployment agency, upon
application by the employer, may grant additional time for the
employer to comply with the electronic filing method if the
director concludes that satisfying the requirement of electronic
filing will cause economic hardship for the employer. The employer
shall provide, and the director shall consider, information about
the employer's anticipated cost expenditure for preparing for
electronic filing and about the employer's annual income. An
employer that complies with the reporting requirements of this
subsection by filing electronically a quarterly wage report using a
method approved by the unemployment agency is not required to file
periodically to disclose contributions under this act.
(3) The unemployment agency shall allow a contributing
employer that employed 25 or fewer individuals during the pay
period that includes January 12, 2012, or during the corresponding
pay period in each succeeding calendar year, and that incurred 50%
or more of the employer's total previous year's contribution
obligation in the first quarter of that year to discharge the
liability for contributions due in the next succeeding year through
quarterly payments that distribute the payment of the first
quarter's obligation equally over the 4 quarters in that year. To
avoid interest and penalties otherwise applicable to those
payments, an employer meeting the requirements of this subsection
shall notify the unemployment agency of the election to make
apportioned payments with the first quarter's payment and timely
file each succeeding quarterly payment in the amounts prescribed in
section 15a. This subsection applies to contributions beginning in
the 2013 tax year.