The Nevada Career Enhancement Program tax is a flat 0.05% employer-only assessment on Nevada payroll, charged on each employee’s wages up to $43,700 in 2026 and reported quarterly on the same form as your regular state unemployment insurance contributions.1Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Whats New in UI Tax Workers pay none of it. If you already have a Nevada UI account, this is part of the same quarterly obligation.
Who Owes the Assessment
Under NRS 612.606, every employer subject to Nevada’s Unemployment Compensation Law owes additional payments into the Unemployment Compensation Administration Fund at 0.05% of wages paid. Two groups are outside that rule. Reimbursable employers who have elected under NRS 612.553 to repay the state directly for benefits paid, rather than paying contributions, do not owe the CEP assessment; this generally covers certain nonprofits and government entities. Employers assigned the maximum 5.4% contribution rate under NRS 612.550 are also excluded.2Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 612 – Unemployment Compensation Everyone else pays.
The 2026 Rate and Wage Base
The rate is fixed at 0.05% (.0005) for every liable employer. It does not vary with your experience rating, and NRS 612.606 keeps CEP payments separate from the experience-rated UI contributions, so paying it cannot push your assigned UI rate up or down.2Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 612 – Unemployment Compensation
The assessment applies only to wages up to Nevada’s taxable wage base, recalculated each January at 66⅔% of average annual wages. For 2026 that cap is $43,700 per employee.1Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Whats New in UI Tax Once an employee’s year-to-date earnings pass $43,700, you stop owing CEP on that employee’s additional wages for the rest of the calendar year. For context, the base was $41,800 in 2025 and $40,600 in 2024.3Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. UI Information for Employers
How to Calculate the Quarterly Amount
Take each employee’s gross wages for the quarter, exclude any portion above the $43,700 annual cap, add the taxable wages together, and multiply by .0005.
Example: if total taxable wages across your workforce for a quarter come to $200,000, the CEP assessment is $200,000 × .0005 = $100. When rounding, a fraction below half a cent drops, and half a cent or more rounds up to a full cent.2Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 612 – Unemployment Compensation
Watch the wage cap across quarters. If one employee earned $12,000 in Q1 and reaches $45,000 year-to-date by the end of Q2, only the portion of Q2 wages that keeps the running total at or below $43,700 counts as taxable for CEP purposes. The rest is excluded for the remainder of the year.
Filing the Quarterly Report
CEP is reported on the Employer’s Quarterly Contribution and Wage Report (Form NUCS-4072), the same document used for regular UI contributions. Line 5 shows taxable wages; line 7 is the CEP amount due, calculated by multiplying line 5 by the CEP rate printed on the form. The report also requires your Nevada UI account number, federal EIN, total gross wages, and an itemized listing of each employee’s wages and Social Security number.
The fastest way to file is the Employer Self-Service (ESS) portal at nui.nv.gov, which accepts wage data and issues an immediate confirmation. Paper filing by mail to the Employment Security Division is still available. If your quarterly tax liability reaches $10,000 or more, Nevada law requires electronic payment.4Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Electronic Payment System
Deadlines and Payment Methods
The report and payment are due the last day of the month after each quarter closes. When the due date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it shifts to the next business day.5Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. View Quarterly Reporting Information
- Q1 (January–March): due April 30
- Q2 (April–June): due July 31
- Q3 (July–September): due October 31
- Q4 (October–December): due January 31
DETR accepts two ACH options. ACH Debit lets you authorize the state to pull funds from your account through the ESS portal at no cost. ACH Credit requires you to initiate the transfer through your own bank, which may charge a fee. Paper filers can include a check or money order.4Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Electronic Payment System
What Happens If You File Late
A $5 flat late-filing charge attaches as soon as the report is one day past due. After 10 days, an additional charge of 0.1% of the quarter’s taxable wages accrues for each month or partial month the report remains delinquent. Interest on past-due UI contributions runs at 1% of the unpaid amount per month.1Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Whats New in UI Tax
NRS 612.606 says the interest and forfeiture provisions in NRS 612.620 and 612.740 do not apply to CEP payments themselves.2Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 612 – Unemployment Compensation In practice, though, CEP rides on the same report as your UI tax, and the late-filing charges attach to the report. Falling behind still costs you. Deliberate tax evasion carries far more: a civil penalty of $5,000 or 10% of the underreported amount, plus potential felony exposure.1Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Whats New in UI Tax
Fixing a Report You Already Filed
Amendments go through the ESS portal at nui.nv.gov.5Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. View Quarterly Reporting Information Typical corrections are wages posted under the wrong Social Security number, wages assigned to the wrong state, and data-entry mistakes. Catch these early. Because the $43,700 cap runs on year-to-date wages, a misallocation in Q1 will throw off every quarter that follows until you fix it.