Notice of New Penalties for Failure to Timely File Complete Payroll Reports

This is to update you on the new legislative Act 191 which involves the Office of Unemployment Insurance Administration of the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

Act 191 is effective for any wage and tax report submitted for the first quarter of 2010 and in the future. Penalties may be assessed for failure to timely file a fully complete quarterly or annual wage and tax report in the manner prescribed or approved by the Administrator. Louisiana Unemployment Insurance taxes are computed based on the wages you report for your employees; therefore, the wage report is a vital segment of your filing.

Employers employing 200 or more employees must now file electronically. There are several acceptable ways to file the Employer’s Quarterly Wage and Tax Report:

• on-line in the secured domain of www.laworks.net
• by magnetic media tape or electronic file upload
• the new official LWC form mailed to your client either quarterly or annually; reproductions must meet specifications (this method only allowed for employers with less than 200 employees)

Payment of taxes may be made by check or EFT method.

In the case of failure to file, failure to fully complete or late filing of any payroll report, the penalty shall be 5% of the total amount due for that quarter or $25, whichever is greater, if the failure is for not more than 30 days. There will be an additional penalty of 5% of the total amount due for the quarter or $25, whichever is greater, for each additional 30-day period during which the failure continues, not to exceed 25% of the amount due for the quarter or $125, whichever is greater.