Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle C— Employment Taxes › Chapter 23— FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT TAX ACT › § 3305
State law can make people, businesses, and some federal agencies pay into the State unemployment fund and follow the State’s unemployment rules. A person or employer cannot avoid State rules just because their work crosses State lines or is on federal land. A State may also require most federal instrumentalities and their workers to pay and follow the State law, but not those the federal law specifically excludes. The State must treat these federal employers and workers fairly: rates must not be higher than for other similar employers and must be based only on unemployment history and related risk. The State must promise to refund any contributions for a year if the Secretary of Labor does not certify the State for that year. The State must also give the same unemployment benefits to those workers on the same terms as other workers. National banks can be asked to file payroll reports like other employers. The Comptroller of the Currency will check those reports at the bank’s next exam and send the results to the State if asked. A State can require owners, officers, and crew of American vessels to pay and follow its law when the vessel’s regular operating office is in that State; those payments are only to that State’s fund. The rule about vessels also applies to general agents of the Secretary of Transportation who manage U.S.-owned or bareboat-chartered vessels, and States may require temporary disability contributions and wage deductions for those services. If, on October 31 of a taxable year, the Secretary of Labor finds a State failed to meet these conditions or substantially failed to follow them in the 12-month period ending that October 31, persons who paid into that State’s fund under this authority lose certain federal tax credits for that year.
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Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 3305
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60