unemployment compensation tax

[Hanka]

Hi,

could you please tell me what an "unemployment compensation tax" is?

Thank you very much.

Hanka

[Ouisch]

In the US, all businesses have to pay a quarterly Unemployment tax. The amount they pay is based on a formula that varies from state to state. The monies collected from this tax pay for Unemployment Compensation. That is, when a person loses his job, he is eligible to collect Unemployment for a certain amount of time. In my home state, Michigan, Unemployment will pay him 70% of his previous salary for 26 weeks. This money is supposed to tide him over while he searches for a new job.

[BobK]

In the US, all businesses have to pay a quarterly Unemployment tax. The amount they pay is based on a formula that varies from state to state. The monies collected from this tax pay for Unemployment Compensation. That is, when a person loses his job, he is eligible to collect Unemployment for a certain amount of time. In my home state, Michigan, Unemployment will pay him 70% of his previous salary for 26 weeks. This money is supposed to tide him over while he searches for a new job.

In the UK there is no local tax (for this), though the payment is similar. Compensation is provided by the Department of Work and Pensions, paid for out of the National Insurance contributions (of all workers and employers). The payment is called 'Job Seeker's Allowance' or just JSA, and is known informally as 'the Dole'.

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