Tennessee Form LB-0456 is the quarterly premium and wage report every employer liable for state unemployment insurance files with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD). You report each employee’s wages for the quarter, subtract any wages above the annual taxable base, multiply the taxable remainder by your assigned premium rate, and submit the return through Employer e-Services on Jobs4TN.gov by the last day of the month after the quarter ends. As of 2025, the older TNPAWS system is retired.
What to Gather Before You Start
Pull these together before you open the form:
- Your eight-digit Tennessee UI account number, assigned when you registered with TDLWD. If you have not registered, you can do so through Employer e-Services on Jobs4TN.gov.1Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Tax and Insurance
- Your nine-digit Federal Employer Identification Number.
- Your assigned premium rate, which TDLWD prints on the form. New employers without claims history are typically assigned 2.70%.
- Full legal name, Social Security number, and quarterly gross wages for every person who worked during the quarter.
- Year-to-date wages for each employee, so you can tell whether they have crossed the taxable wage base for the calendar year.
The form also asks for a monthly employment count. Count every full-time and part-time worker who worked during, or received pay for, the payroll period that included the 12th of each month in the quarter. If no one worked in a given month, enter zero.
Filling Out the Form Line by Line
The LB-0456 has ten active line items, and the math flows top to bottom. Work through them in order.
Items 1–3: Gross, Excess, and Taxable Wages
Item 1 is total gross wages paid to all employees during the quarter, including commissions, bonuses, tips, and employee salary-reduction contributions to 401(k) and cafeteria plans. This figure cannot be negative.2Justia. Tennessee Code 50-7-213 – Wages Defined
Item 2 is the portion of Item 1 that sits above the taxable wage base for each employee. Tennessee’s base moves with the state unemployment trust fund balance: $7,000 per employee per calendar year when the fund exceeds $1 billion, $8,000 when the fund is between $900 million and $1 billion, and $9,000 when it drops below $900 million.2Justia. Tennessee Code 50-7-213 – Wages Defined For 2026 the base is $7,000. Once an employee’s year-to-date pay crosses the threshold, every dollar above it belongs in Item 2.
Item 3 is Item 1 minus Item 2. That is your taxable wages for the quarter, and it drives your premium. It cannot be negative.
Items 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11: Premium, Interest, Penalty, Credits, and Total
Item 4 is Item 3 multiplied by your preprinted premium rate. Experience-rated rates currently run from 0.01% to 10.0% under Premium Rate Table 6, which applies when the trust fund exceeds $1 billion.3Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development. UI Tax Rates Your individual rate reflects your reserve ratio: the balance of premiums you have paid minus benefits charged against your account, divided by your average taxable payroll over the three most recent years. Higher reserve ratios generally mean lower rates.
Item 5 is interest on any premium paid late, calculated at 1.5% per month or fraction of a month, from the day after the due date through the date of payment.4Justia. Tennessee Code 50-7-404 – Collection of Premiums – Interest Enter zero if you are filing on time.
Item 8 is the late filing penalty: $10 for each month or partial month the report is overdue, capped at $50 per quarter. The same penalty applies to reports that are intentionally incomplete, such as those missing Social Security numbers or employee names.
Item 9 is any credit or balance carried over from a prior quarter. A prior overpayment reduces what you owe; a prior underpayment adds to it.
Item 10 is the sum of Items 4, 5, 8, and 9. That is your total due. Make the check payable to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Item 11 is where you sign, print your title, date the report, and add a phone number.
How to File
Most employers file electronically through Employer e-Services on Jobs4TN.gov. TDLWD retired TNPAWS in 2025, and old TNPAWS credentials do not carry over, so you have to create a new account.5Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Employers Electronic filing gives you an immediate confirmation of receipt and cuts down on the data-entry errors that lead to follow-up notices.
If you file on paper, mail the form and check to:
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Employment Security Division
Employer Accounts Operations
P.O. Box 101
Nashville, TN 37202
Reports submitted without a payment, such as a zero-balance quarter, go to P.O. Box 202, Nashville, TN 37202. The envelope must be postmarked by the quarterly deadline to count as timely.
Quarterly Deadlines
Reports are due the last day of the month after each calendar quarter ends:
- First quarter (January–March): April 30
- Second quarter (April–June): July 31
- Third quarter (July–September): October 31
- Fourth quarter (October–December): January 31
When a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, it shifts to the next business day.
What Late Filing Costs
Missing a deadline triggers two separate charges. The late filing penalty runs $10 per month or partial month, capped at $50 per quarter. Interest on unpaid premiums accrues at 1.5% per month from the day after the due date until TDLWD receives full payment.4Justia. Tennessee Code 50-7-404 – Collection of Premiums – Interest These charges compound if multiple quarters go unfiled.
Correcting a Report You Already Filed
If you find a wage error or need to remove an employee from a prior return, amend it through Employer e-Services. Log in, open View Wage Reports, select the quarter, and click View or Amend Return. The system asks you to pick a reason and add a short explanation.6Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Filing And Amending Wage Reports
Amendments that raise wages process normally. Amendments that lower wages or remove an employee require supporting documentation and TDLWD staff approval before the record updates, so build in review time.
If You Are a Reimbursing Employer
The premium math on the LB-0456 assumes you are a premium-paying employer, which covers most private-sector businesses. Municipalities and certain government entities can elect to be reimbursing employers instead. A reimbursing employer still files quarterly wage reports for each worker but does not remit a premium with the report; instead, the entity pays the trust fund back dollar-for-dollar when a former employee collects benefits.7Municipal Technical Advisory Service. Human Resources – Who is Not Covered If that describes your organization, the premium lines do not apply, but the wage reporting still does.
Records to Keep
Hold on to every filed LB-0456 and the payroll records behind it for at least four years. TDLWD audits usually cover three to four years, and the lookback can go further in serious cases. Keep payroll journals, employee wage records with year-to-date totals, and documentation for anyone you treated as an independent contractor rather than an employee. Misclassification is one of the main things auditors look for, and clean records are what keep a routine audit routine.