Worried About Your Unemployment Insurance Bill? What You Should Know

by Molly Schaffer, CPA

If you’ve been following the news out of the Minnesota Legislature, you may have heard lawmakers finally came to an agreement on how to repay the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund. The fund was drained during the COVID pandemic, forcing the state to borrow money from the federal government to keep checks flowing.

In early May, Governor Walz signed a bill into law that spends $2.7 billion of the state’s budget surplus to repay the loan and refill the trust fund. It also appropriates $500 million for bonuses (up to $750 each) for up to 667,000 frontline pandemic workers.

This is great news for nonprofits and businesses: If lawmakers had delayed their decision past April 30 or decided the state should not be on the hook for the loan, organizations would have been hit with an unemployment insurance rate hike.

Some organizations, however, already received—and in some cases paid—an invoice for unemployment insurance that was due on April 30. If you fall into this boat, here’s what you should know.

Why did this happen?

Because the lawmakers’ decision came right down to the April 30 deadline, the state didn’t have time to reissue or put a stop on unemployment insurance invoices.

What should you do with your invoice?

If you already paid your invoice, don’t worry. You’ll be refunded for the difference when the correct (i.e., lower) unemployment insurance rates are calculated and published. If you haven’t paid the invoice, sit tight for now. Keep working with your auditor to determine the right amount to show as a liability on your financial statements.

When can you expect an update?

The short answer: We don’t know. The good news is, your unemployment expenses should not see a dramatic increase.

We’re here to help.

If you have questions about how to calculate or show your unemployment liability on your financial statements, we can help. Contact us today.

For more information on this issue, read up on this article from MinnPost.