108.152 Financing benefits for employees of Indian tribes. (1) ELECTION OF REIMBURSEMENT FINANCING. Each Indian tribe that is an employer may, in lieu of paying contributions under ss. 108.17 and 108.18, elect reimbursement financing for itself as a whole or for any tribal units or combinations of tribal units that are wholly owned subdivisions, subsidiaries, or
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business enterprises, as of the beginning of any calendar year, subject to the following conditions: (a) The Indian tribe or tribal unit shall file a written notice of the election with the department before the beginning of that year except that, if the Indian tribe or tribal unit became an employer as of the beginning of that year, it shall file the notice within 30 days after the date of the determination that it is an employer. (b) An Indian tribe or tribal unit whose election of reimbursement financing is terminated under sub. (2) (a) may not thereafter reelect reimbursement financing unless it has been subject to the contribution requirements of ss. 108.17 and 108.18 for at least 3 calendar years thereafter and is not, at the time of filing such reelection, delinquent under s. 108.22. (d) If the Indian tribe or tribal unit is an employer before the effective date of an election, ss. 108.17 and 108.18 shall apply to all employment before the effective date of the election, but after all benefits based on prior employment have been charged to any account that it has had under s. 108.16 (2), the department shall transfer any positive balance or charge any negative balance remaining therein to the fund’s balancing account as if s. 108.16 (6) (c) and (6m) (d) applied. (2) TERMINATION OF ELECTION. (a) An Indian tribe or tribal unit that elected reimbursement financing may terminate its election as of the close of the 2nd calendar year to which the election applies, or at the close of any subsequent calendar year, by filing a written notice of termination with the department before the close of that year. (b) If an Indian tribe or tribal unit terminates an election under this subsection, the employer’s contribution rate is 2.5 percent on its payroll for each of the next 3 calendar years. (4) REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT. The department shall maintain a reimbursement account, as a subaccount of the fund’s balancing account, for each Indian tribe, tribal unit, or combination of tribal units in accordance with any valid election made under subs. (1) and (5) and subject to the procedures and conditions provided for other employers under s. 108.151 (5). (5) GROUP REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT. An Indian tribe that has elected reimbursement financing for tribal units or one or more combinations of tribal units may request to have specified tribal units treated as one employer for purposes of this chapter. The department shall approve any such request subject to the following conditions: (a) The tribal units shall be so treated for a period of at least the 3 calendar years following their request, unless their election of reimbursement financing is terminated under sub. (2) or (6), but the Indian tribe may discontinue the treatment as of the beginning of any calendar year following that period by filing notice with the department prior to the beginning of that calendar year. (b) The tribal units shall be jointly and severally liable for any required reimbursements, together with any interest thereon and any penalties or tardy filing fees. (c) The Indian tribe shall designate one or more individuals to act as an agent for all members of the group for all fiscal and reporting purposes under this chapter. (6) FAILURE TO MAKE REQUIRED PAYMENTS. (a) If an Indian tribe or tribal unit fails to pay required contributions, reimbursements in lieu of contributions, penalties, interest, fees, or assessments within 90 days of the time that the department transmits to the tribe a final notice of delinquency: 1. The department shall immediately notify the federal internal revenue service and the federal department of labor of that failure. 2. Any valid election of reimbursement financing is terminated as of the end of the current calendar year.
May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26)
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3. The department may consider the Indian tribe not to be an employer and may consider services performed for the tribe not to be employment for purposes of this chapter. (b) An Indian tribe whose prior election of reimbursement financing has been terminated under par. (a) may not thereafter reelect reimbursement financing unless it has been subject to the contribution requirements of ss. 108.17 and 108.18 for at least one calendar year thereafter and is not delinquent under s. 108.22 at the time that it files a request for reelection. (c) The final notice of delinquency specified in par. (a) shall include information that failure to make full payment within the prescribed time will cause the Indian tribe to be liable for taxes under the federal Unemployment Tax Act (26 USC 3301, et seq.), will cause the tribe to be precluded from electing reimbursement financing, and may cause the department to determine that the tribe is not an employer and that services performed for the tribe are not employment for purposes of this chapter. (7) REPORTS. Each Indian tribe that is an employer shall make employment and wage reports to the department under the same conditions that apply to other employers. History: 2001 a. 35, 105; 2005 a. 86; 2007 a. 59; 2009 a. 287; 2015 a. 334; 2021 a. 231.
108.155 Liability of reimbursable employers for identity theft. (1) In this section: (a) “Payroll” has the meaning given in s. 108.02 (21) (a). (b) “Reimbursable employer” means an employer under s. 108.02 (13) (a) that is subject to reimbursement financing under s. 108.15, 108.151, or 108.152. (2) (a) On October 2, 2016, the fund’s treasurer shall set aside $2,000,000 in the fund’s balancing account for accounting purposes. On an ongoing basis, the fund’s treasurer shall tally the amounts allocated to reimbursable employers’ accounts under s. 108.04 (13) (d) 4. c. and all amounts transferred to the account under s. 108.16 (6w) as provided in s. 108.151 (7) (i) and shall deduct those amounts from the amount set aside plus any interest calculated thereon. (b) On each June 30, beginning with June 30, 2016, the fund’s treasurer shall do all of the following: 1. Determine the current result of the calculations described in par. (a). 2. Determine the amount that was allocated to reimbursable employers’ accounts under s. 108.04 (13) (d) 4. c. in the preceding calendar year. (c) Annually, beginning with the first year in which the amount determined under par. (b) 1. is less than $100,000, the department shall proceed as follows: 1. If the sum of the amount determined under par. (b) 2. in the current year and any amount carried over under subd. 2. or 3. from the preceding year is $20,000 or more, the department shall, subject to subd. 3., assess reimbursable employers for that sum. 2. If the sum of the amount determined under par. (b) 2. in the current year and any amount carried over under this subdivision or subd. 3. from the preceding year is less than $20,000 the department shall, subject to subd. 4., postpone the current year’s assessment by carrying that sum over to the following year. 3. If the sum of the amount determined under par. (b) 2. in the current year and any amount carried over under this subdivision or subd. 2. from the preceding year is more than $200,000, the department shall postpone the amount of the assessment that exceeds $200,000 by carrying that amount over to the following year. 4. If the department postponed assessments under subd. 2. in each of the 4 previous years, the department shall, subject to subd. 3., assess reimbursable employers for the sum of the
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amount determined under par. (b) 2. in the current year and the amount carried over under subd. 2. from the preceding year. (d) If the department assesses reimbursable employers under par. (c), the department shall determine the amount of assessments to be levied as provided in sub. (3), and the fund’s treasurer shall notify reimbursable employers that the assessment will be imposed. Except as provided in sub. (3) (c), the assessment shall be payable by each reimbursable employer that is subject to this chapter as of the date the assessment is imposed. Assessments imposed under this section shall be credited to the fund’s balancing account. (3) (a) The rate of an assessment imposed under sub. (2) (c) for a given calendar year shall be a rate that, when applied to the payrolls of all reimbursable employers for the preceding calendar year, will generate an amount equal to the total amount to be assessed in that year as determined under sub. (2) (c). (b) Except as provided in par. (c), the amount of a reimbursable employer’s assessment imposed under sub. (2) (c) for a given calendar year is the product of the rate determined under par. (a) and the reimbursable employer’s payroll for the preceding calendar year, as reported by the reimbursable employer under s. 108.15 (8), 108.151 (8), 108.152 (7), or 108.205 (1), or, in the absence of reports, as estimated by the department. (c) If a reimbursable employer would otherwise be assessed an amount less than $10 for a calendar year, the department shall, in lieu of requiring that reimbursable employer to pay an assessment for that calendar year, apply the amount that the reimbursable employer would have been required to pay to the other reimbursable employers subject to an assessment on a pro rata basis. (4) The department shall bill an assessment under this section to a reimbursable employer, by electronically delivering the assessment to the employer or mailing the assessment to the employer’s last known address, in the month of September of each year, and the assessment shall be due to the department within 20 days after the date the department issues the assessment. Any assessment that remains unpaid after its due date is a delinquent payment. If a reimbursable employer is delinquent in paying an assessment under this section, in addition to pursuing action under the provisions of ss. 108.22 and 108.225, the department may do any of the following: (a) Pursue action authorized under s. 108.15 (6), if the reimbursable employer is subject to reimbursement financing under s. 108.15. (b) Terminate the reimbursable employer’s election of reimbursement financing under s. 108.151 (3) (b) or liquidate the employer’s assurance under s. 108.151 (4) (b), if the reimbursable employer elected reimbursement financing under s. 108.151 (2). (c) Pursue action authorized under s. 108.152 (6), if the reimbursable employer elected reimbursement financing under s. 108.152 (1). (5) If the payroll of a reimbursable employer for any quarter is adjusted to decrease the amount of the payroll after an employment and wage report for the reimbursable employer is filed under s. 108.205 (1), the department shall refund the amount of any assessment that was overpaid by the reimbursable employer under this section as a result of the adjustment. (6) The department shall annually report to the council on unemployment insurance the balance remaining of the amount set aside under sub. (2) (a) and the amount of charges restored to reimbursable employers’ accounts under s. 108.04 (13) (d) 4. c. History: 2015 a. 334; 2017 a. 157; 2021 a. 231.