35A-4-208 - Wages defined.
35A-4-208. Wages defined.
(1) As used in this chapter, "wages" means wages as currently defined by Section3306(b), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, with modifications, subtractions, and adjustmentsprovided in Subsections (2), (3), and (4).
(2) For purposes of Section 35A-4-303, "wages" does not include that amount paid to anindividual by an employer with respect to employment subject to this chapter that is in excess of75% of the insured average fiscal year wage, rounded to the next higher multiple of $100, duringthe fiscal year prior to the calendar year of the payment to the individual by the individual'semployer on or after January 1, 1988.
(3) For the purpose of determining whether the successor employer during the calendaryear has paid remuneration to an individual with respect to employment equal to the applicabletaxable wages as defined by this Subsection (3), any remuneration with respect to employmentpaid to the individual by a predecessor employer during the calendar year and prior to anacquisition is considered to have been paid by a successor employer if:
(a) the successor employer during any calendar year acquires the unemploymentexperience within the meaning of Subsection 35A-4-303(8) or 35A-4-304(3) of a predecessoremployer; and
(b) immediately after the acquisition employs in the successor employer's trade orbusiness an individual who immediately prior to the acquisition was employed in the trade orbusiness of the predecessor.
(4) The remuneration paid to an individual by an employer with respect to employmentin another state, upon which contributions were required of the employer under theunemployment compensation law of that state, shall be included as a part of the taxable wagebase defined in this section.
(5) As used in this chapter, "wages" does not include:
(a) the amount of any payment, including any amount paid by an employer for insuranceor annuities, or into a fund, to provide for a payment, made to, or on behalf of, an employee orany of the employee's dependents under a plan or system established by an employer that makesprovision for:
(i) (A) the employer's employees generally;
(B) the employer's employees generally and their dependents;
(C) a class or classes of the employer's employees; or
(D) a class or classes of the employer's employees and their dependents; and
(ii) on account of:
(A) sickness or accident disability, but, in the case of payments made to an employee orany of the employee's dependents, Subsection (5)(a)(i) excludes from wages only payments thatare received under a workers' compensation law;
(B) medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accidentdisability; or
(C) death;
(b) any payment on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical orhospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, made by an employerto, or on behalf of, an employee after the expiration of six calendar months following the lastcalendar month in which the employee worked for the employer;
(c) the payment by an employing unit, without deduction from the remuneration of the
individual in its employ, of the tax imposed upon an individual in its employ under Section 3101,Internal Revenue Code, with respect to domestic services performed in a private home of theemployer or for agricultural labor;
(d) any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or the employee's beneficiary:
(i) from or to a trust described in Section 401(a), Internal Revenue Code, that is exemptfrom tax under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code, at the time of the payment, except for apayment made to an employee of the trust as remuneration for services rendered as an employeeand not as a beneficiary of the trust;
(ii) under or to an annuity plan that at the time of the payment is a plan described inSection 403(a), Internal Revenue Code;
(iii) under a simplified employee pension, as defined in Section 408(k)(l), InternalRevenue Code, other than any contributions described in Section 408(k)(6), Internal RevenueCode;
(iv) under or to an annuity contract described in Section 403(b), Internal Revenue Code,except for a payment for the purchase of the contract that is made by reason of a salary reductionagreement whether or not the agreement is evidenced by a written instrument;
(v) under or to an exempt governmental deferred compensation plan as defined inSection 3121(v)(3), Internal Revenue Code; or
(vi) to supplement pension benefits under a plan or trust described in Subsections(5)(d)(i) through (v) to take into account a portion or all of the increase in the cost of living, asdetermined by the Secretary of Labor, since retirement, but only if the supplemental payments areunder a plan that is treated as a welfare plan under Section 3(2)(B)(ii) of the Employee IncomeSecurity Act of 1974; or
(e) any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or the employee's beneficiaryunder a cafeteria plan within the meaning of Section 125, Internal Revenue Code, if the paymentwould not be treated as wages under a cafeteria plan.
Amended by Chapter 12, 2005 General Session