Virtually all employers are subject to unemployment insurance taxes under Pennsylvania's Unemployment Compensation Law (PA Stat. Tit. 43 Sec. 751 et seq.). Coverage extends to anyone who employs one or more persons in covered employment for some portion of a day during a calendar year, including:
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• A person or organization that acquires the business of a covered employer;
• Employers subject to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA);
• Agricultural employers that, in the current or preceding calendar year, paid wages of $20,000 or more in any quarter, or that employed 10 or more workers for some portion of a day in each of 20 different calendar weeks; and
• Employers of domestic workers who paid cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter (PA Stat. Tit. 43 Sec. 753).
Employers that are not subject to the law may voluntarily elect to be covered.
The law excludes certain services from coverage, including, for example, services provided by:
• Students working for schools, colleges, or universities;
• Students working for work-study programs;
• Spouses of students working for the school;
• Real estate and insurance salespersons;
• Solicitors, salespersons, and brokers for an investment company;
• Certain newspaper distributors (e.g., minors);
• Newspaper correspondents paid only for accepted copy (PA Stat. Tit. 43 Sec. 753).
