What payroll taxes does a Hawaii employer pay?

A Hawaii employer pays federal FUTA, the employer half of FICA (6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare), and Hawaii state unemployment insurance (SUI). Employers also administer Hawaii Temporary Disability Insurance and the Prepaid Health Care Act, though those costs are partly employee-funded.

What is the Hawaii SUI wage base and new-employer rate?

For 2024 the Hawaii unemployment insurance taxable wage base is about $62,000 per employee. New employers without an experience rating are generally assigned a rate around 3%, while experienced employers pay rates ranging roughly from 0.2% to 5.8% depending on their claims history.

How much is FUTA in Hawaii?

Federal FUTA is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages, but employers who pay state unemployment tax on time receive a 5.4% credit, lowering the effective FUTA rate to 0.6%, or $42 per employee per year. This calculator applies the post-credit rate.

Does Hawaii have temporary disability insurance for employers?

Yes. Hawaii's Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) law requires coverage, but the cost is largely funded by employees through a deduction of up to 0.5% of weekly wages, capped by statute. Employers must cover any balance of the premium and the Prepaid Health Care Act health insurance contribution.

Is the employer FICA share included here?

Yes. The calculator includes the employer half of FICA — 6.2% Social Security up to the annual wage base and 1.45% Medicare with no cap. This is the largest component of most employers' payroll tax burden and applies nationwide, not just in Hawaii.

Hawaii Employer Payroll Tax Calculator

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Employing staff in Hawaii means paying several employer-side payroll taxes on top of wages. This calculator totals your federal FUTA, the employer half of FICA, and Hawaii’s state unemployment insurance so you can budget the true cost of each hire.

How it works

The employer payroll tax burden has three main components in this model:

FUTA       = min(wage, $7,000) × 0.6%          (after the 5.4% state credit)
Hawaii SUI = min(wage, $62,000) × your SUI rate
Employer FICA = min(wage, $168,600) × 6.2%  +  wage × 1.45%

FUTA is capped at the first 7,000 dollars of each employee’s wages. Hawaii SUI applies to the first 62,000 dollars per employee at your assigned rate — about 3 percent for new employers. The employer FICA share is 6.2 percent Social Security up to the annual wage base plus 1.45 percent Medicare on all wages.

Example

For one employee earning 60,000 dollars at a 3 percent SUI rate: FUTA is 42 dollars, Hawaii SUI is 1,800 dollars, and employer FICA is about 4,590 dollars, for a total employer payroll tax of roughly 6,432 dollars on top of the salary.

Notes

This tool estimates FUTA, SUI, and employer FICA. It does not quantify Hawaii’s Temporary Disability Insurance or Prepaid Health Care Act costs, which depend on your plan and are partly employee-funded. Confirm your exact SUI rate on your annual Hawaii UI contribution rate notice at labor.hawaii.gov.