UI/WF/SWF on a W-2 is New Jersey’s mandatory employee payroll withholding for Unemployment Insurance (UI), the Workforce Development Partnership Fund (WF), and the Supplemental Workforce Fund for Basic Skills (SWF). It appears in Box 14 because the IRS doesn’t give these state-specific items a dedicated numbered box. The amount comes out of every paycheck until your year-to-date wages reach the annual taxable wage base.
What Each Code Pays For
UI funds temporary benefits for workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own, such as a layoff.1State of New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Who Is Eligible for Benefits? WF covers job training and vocational education. SWF supports foundational education and technical literacy. On New Jersey’s official rate schedules, WF and SWF are reported as a single combined line because employees pay one combined rate for both.2Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Rate Information, Contributions, and Due Dates
How Much Comes Out and When It Stops
New Jersey is one of the few states that requires employees to contribute to these funds directly from pay. The 2026 employee rates are:
- UI: 0.3825% of wages
- WF/SWF combined: 0.0425% of wages
That is a total employee rate of 0.425%.2Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Rate Information, Contributions, and Due Dates Withholding applies only to the first $44,800 you earn in a calendar year. Once your year-to-date wages pass that threshold, your employer stops deducting UI/WF/SWF for the rest of the year.3Department of Labor & Workforce Development. NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development Announces New Benefit Rates for 2026
At the full wage base, the most you can pay in 2026 is $190.40 ($171.36 for UI and $19.04 for WF/SWF). If you earned less, multiplying your wages by 0.00425 should land close to what sits in Box 14.
Where It Appears and What Sits Beside It
Box 14 is the catch-all section for items that don’t fit the standard numbered boxes. Starting with 2026 W-2 forms, the IRS split Box 14 into Box 14a (Other) and Box 14b (Treasury Tipped Occupation Codes); your New Jersey payroll items go in 14a.4Internal Revenue Service. 2026 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 Formatting varies by payroll provider. Some W-2s combine UI, WF, and SWF into one dollar amount, others list them separately, and some use a label like “UI/HC/WD.” The total should match the sum of these deductions across your pay stubs for the year. If it doesn’t, raise it with your payroll department before filing.
Two other New Jersey codes typically sit alongside UI/WF/SWF in Box 14 and are easy to confuse with it:
- DI (Disability Insurance): funds Temporary Disability Insurance for non-work-related illness or injury. The 2026 employee rate is 0.19%.
- FLI (Family Leave Insurance): funds paid leave for bonding with a new child or caring for a seriously ill family member. The 2026 employee rate is 0.23%.
Both apply to a higher wage base of $171,100 for 2026, so they keep coming out of your pay long after UI/WF/SWF has stopped.3Department of Labor & Workforce Development. NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development Announces New Benefit Rates for 2026 If your employer uses an approved private plan, you may see “DI PP” or “FLI PP” instead of the standard labels. The tax treatment is the same.
Picking the Right Category in Tax Software
Most tax software asks you to assign each Box 14 item to a category from a dropdown, and the labels don’t always match what’s printed on the W-2. Use these:
- UI/WF/SWF: “NJ UI/WF/SWF Tax”
- DI: “NJ SDI Tax” (or “New Jersey SDI Tax”)
- FLI: “NJ FLI Tax”
The category matters because the software uses it to decide whether the amount counts as a deductible state tax on your federal return. Picking “Other” or a generic label can cause the deduction to be missed.
Deducting It on Your Federal Return
If you itemize instead of taking the standard deduction, mandatory New Jersey unemployment contributions are deductible state taxes on Schedule A, line 5a. The IRS specifically names New Jersey in the Schedule A instructions as a state whose mandatory employee unemployment fund contributions are deductible.5IRS.gov. Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) – Itemized Deductions New Jersey DI and FLI contributions qualify under the same provision. All of this falls under the SALT cap, so for many New Jersey residents these amounts stack on top of state income and property taxes that already hit the limit.
Refund for Excess Contributions With Multiple Employers
If you worked for two or more New Jersey employers during the year, each one withheld UI/WF/SWF independently based only on the wages it paid you. Your combined withholdings can easily pass the $190.40 annual maximum. To recover the overpayment, file Form NJ-2450 with your New Jersey income tax return (NJ-1040).6NJ.gov. Form NJ-2450 – Employee’s Claim for Credit for Excess UI/WF/SWF, Disability Insurance, and/or Family Leave Insurance Contributions You’ll need wage and withholding information from every W-2; incomplete claims get rejected. Joint filers each file their own NJ-2450.
One boundary to be aware of: if a single employer alone withheld more than the maximum, that’s a payroll error, and you have to go back to that employer for a direct refund rather than claim it on your state return.7Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. New Jersey Administrative Code 18:35-4.2 – Credit for Excess Contributions The same NJ-2450 process covers excess DI and FLI withholdings, and because those taxes run to the much higher $171,100 wage base, multi-job workers are even more likely to exceed those maximums than the UI/WF/SWF cap.