Utah Form 33H is the quarterly wage and contribution report that liable employers file with the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) to report employee earnings for unemployment insurance. You file it online through the DWS employer portal, and it’s due within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. The report lists every employee’s wages for the quarter and comes with your unemployment insurance contribution payment.1Utah Department of Workforce Services. Utah Unemployment Insurance and New Hire Reporting – Quarterly Reporting
Who Has to File
You’re a liable employer in Utah once you cross either of two thresholds: paying $140 or more in wages during a calendar quarter, or employing at least one person for any part of a day in 20 different weeks of a calendar year. The 20 weeks don’t have to be consecutive, and the person doesn’t have to be the same individual. Once you’re liable, you keep filing every quarter until DWS closes your account.
That includes quarters where you paid no one. A zero-wage report keeps your account current and keeps the late-filing penalty off your bill.2Utah Department of Workforce Services. Utah Unemployment Insurance Employer Handbook FAQs
One exception on frequency: employers of household workers (nannies, housekeepers, and similar domestic help) can choose to report annually instead of quarterly.2Utah Department of Workforce Services. Utah Unemployment Insurance Employer Handbook FAQs
Form 33H covers employees only. Independent contractors do not go on the report. If DWS later reclassifies someone you called a contractor, you owe back unemployment taxes on everything you paid them, plus interest and penalties, so document your reasoning before you treat a worker as a contractor.
What You Report for Each Employee
For every person on your payroll during the quarter, the form asks for:
- Social Security number
- Full legal name as shown on the Social Security card
- Gross wages paid during the quarter, before any deductions
- Excess wages (the portion above the annual taxable wage base)
At the top of the report you also enter your Federal Employer Identification Number, your DWS employer account number, and the quarter and year.
Gross wages are defined broadly. Hourly pay, salaries, overtime, bonuses, commissions, tips, and the cash value of other compensation all count. Utah generally follows the federal wage definition under the Internal Revenue Code, with some state-specific adjustments.3Utah Legislature. Utah Code 35A-4-208 A handful of items sit outside the wage definition, including employer contributions to qualified retirement plans and payments under employer-sponsored health, disability, or death benefit plans. When a particular payment is ambiguous, including it is safer than underreporting; DWS can adjust at audit, but a shortfall triggers penalties.
Figuring Taxable and Excess Wages
You pay unemployment insurance tax only on wages up to the annual taxable wage base per employee. For 2026 that cap is $50,700.4Utah Department of Workforce Services. Utah Unemployment Insurance and New Hire Reporting – Tax Rates Anything above that in the same calendar year is excess wages. You still list excess wages on the form, but they aren’t taxed.
Tracking takes a running total across the year. If an employee earns $30,000 in Q1 and another $25,000 in Q2, cumulative pay at the end of Q2 is $55,000. The first $50,700 is taxable; the extra $4,300 is excess. On the Q2 report you’d list $25,000 in gross wages and $4,300 in excess wages for that employee. Every dollar paid to that person in Q3 and Q4 is entirely excess.
The wage base is recalculated each year at 75 percent of the insured average fiscal year wage, rounded up to the nearest $100.3Utah Legislature. Utah Code 35A-4-208 Confirm the current figure on the DWS site before you file your first quarter of the year.
Quarterly Deadlines
Each report and contribution payment is due 30 days after the quarter closes:5Utah Department of Workforce Services. Wage Reporting Schedule
- Q1 (January through March): due April 30
- Q2 (April through June): due July 31
- Q3 (July through September): due October 31
- Q4 (October through December): due January 31 of the following year
When a due date lands on a weekend or state holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
How to File Online
Online filing through the DWS employer portal is required, not optional. Paper filing is not a standard alternative, and failing to file the wage list online carries a $50 penalty on top of anything else owed.6Utah Department of Workforce Services. Controlling Unemployment Tax Costs
Setting Up the Portal Account
New employers register for a UI account at jobs.utah.gov. Registration walks you through your FEIN, business structure, and contact information. Once the account is active, you’ll log in each quarter from the same portal.7Utah Department of Workforce Services. Utah Unemployment Insurance and New Hire Reporting
Submitting the Report and Paying
Inside the portal you either key in each employee’s wages or upload them in a supported file format. A summary screen shows totals before you submit. You pay contributions in the same session by electronic funds transfer or credit card. The portal returns a timestamped confirmation when the submission goes through; save it with your payroll records as proof of filing.
Penalties for Late Filing or Payment
Late penalties stack by how far past the deadline you are:6Utah Department of Workforce Services. Controlling Unemployment Tax Costs
- 1 to 15 days late: 5% of tax due
- 16 to 30 days late: 10%
- 31 to 45 days late: 15%
- 46 to 60 days late: 20%
- More than 60 days late: 25%
The minimum penalty is $25 per reporting period, no matter how small the balance. Unpaid contributions also accrue interest at 1 percent per month from the original due date.8Utah Legislature. Utah Code 35A-4-305 – Collection of Contributions If a balance stays unpaid after DWS sends a written demand, an additional 5 percent is added. Dishonored payments add a service charge of their own. These charges compound, so a report that’s two months late with unpaid tax can run roughly 20 percent of the tax owed plus accumulated interest.
Fixing a Report After You File
If you find an error later, whether a wrong wage amount, a missing employee, or a mistyped SSN, you file an amendment. Use Form 3ADJ (Amended Employer’s Contribution Report) for changes to the contribution totals, with Form 3HADJ (Amended Wage List) attached when individual wages need to change.9Utah Department of Workforce Services. Amended Employer’s Contribution Report Each amended form covers one quarter, and the correction has to be applied to the quarter the wages were actually paid in. You cannot roll a Q1 fix into Q2. The preferred way to submit an amendment is through the same employer portal, and the original report’s total payroll should appear on the amendment so DWS can reconcile the difference.
Keep Your Records
Utah requires employers to keep unemployment insurance records for at least three years per employee, including name, Social Security number, work location, hire and separation dates, pay period details, total wages per period, and daily time records. Federal rules push the practical minimum longer: the IRS wants employment tax records kept for at least four years after you file the fourth-quarter return for the year.10Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Recordkeeping Four years is the safe retention window. Store each quarter’s filing confirmation with the underlying payroll so you can produce the full chain if DWS or the IRS asks.