Information about penalties
Penalties and interest for late tax payment
If you do not pay your taxes when due, you will be charged a penalty of 5 percent or $10.00, whichever is greater, for the first month; an additional 5 percent or $10.00, whichever is greater, for the second month; and an additional 10 percent or $10.00, whichever is greater, for the third month. You will be charged interest at the rate of 1 percent per month of total taxes due.Penalties for incomplete/wrong format reports
If you repeatedly make one of the following errors on your unemployment tax reports, you will have to pay a penalty.- Submit incomplete reports that do not include all of the required information. You must report the name, Social Security number, hours worked and wages for each employee every quarter.
- File in the wrong format You must use a form that we provided. Our scanning equipment cannot read other forms, including photocopies, so all information must be hand-keyed into the system.
Penalty schedule
We will send you a warning letter the first time you submit your report in the wrong format or submit an incomplete report. After that, we will charge you a penalty if you make either mistake.
| If you owe taxes | If you don’t owe taxes |
2nd time | 10 percent of taxes due, | $75 |
3rd time | 10 percent of taxes due, | $150 |
4th time | $250 | $250 |
Avoid penalties
You are less likely to make mistakes if you file your taxes electronically. The software highlights missing information and there are no paper forms, so the risk of filing in the wrong format is eliminated.Other penalties
You also will have to pay a penalty if you file a late report. Other penalties apply for knowing misrepresentation of payroll [see RCW 50.12.220(3)], for failure to keep required records [see RCW 50.12.070(3)], and for knowing failure to register witht he department as required (see RCW 50.12.072).Waivers
Information on requesting a waiver.Relevant laws and rules
Penalty amountsReport and tax payment penalties
