FUTA, SUTA Error Line 3

When doing Payroll Check Calculation you will get a FUTA or SUTA error if those withholdings have been mistakenly assigned to an employee, or if they were intentionally assigned (in the case of SUTA) but the employee share has not be set up.

Symptom

When calculating payroll checks you receive a FUTA or SUTA error as shown below:

FUTA Tax 2018 Error Line 3: 2018 FUTA base must be greater than 1.

SUTA Tax 2018 Error Line 3: 2018 SUTA base must be greater than 1.

Explanation and Solution

FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax)

FUTA should not be assigned as a withholding because, as of the time of this writing (January 2018), employees do not pay a share of FUTA. Since tax laws may change, it is available as a withholding for possible future use only.

• To solve the problem, go to the Employee Withholdings screen and click once on FUTA to select it, then click Delete.

SUTA (State Unemployment Tax)

While most states do not require employees to pay a share of SUTA, others do. See: FUTA & SUTA Rates

• If your state does not withhold SUTA from employees, go to the Employee Withholdings screen and click once on SUTA to select it, then click Delete.
• If your state does withhold SUTA from employees then the problem is the Employee Wage Base and Employee’s Share (percentage) have not been set up on the School Options screen. See: How to update FUTA & SUTA.