Montana § 39-51-1213 - Classification Of Employers For Experience Rating Purposes

§ 39-51-1213. Classification Of Employers For Experience Rating Purposes

Classification of employers for experience rating purposes. (1) The department shall for each calendar year classify employers in accordance with their actual experience in the payment of contributions and with respect to benefits charged against their accounts, with contribution rates reflecting benefit experience. Each employer's rate for a calendar year must be determined on the basis of the employer's record as of October 1 of the preceding calendar year. (2) In making the classification, each eligible and deficit employer's contribution rate is determined in the manner set forth below: (a) Each employer is given an "experience factor", which is contributions paid since October 1, 1981, minus benefits charged on each employer's account since October 1, 1981, divided by the employer's average annual taxable payroll rounded to the next lower dollar amount for the 3 federal fiscal years immediately preceding the computation date. The computation of the "experience factor" must be to six decimal places. (b) Schedules must be prepared listing all eligible and deficit employers in inverse numerical order of their experience factors. There must be listed on the schedules for each employer in addition to the experience factor: (i) the amount of the employer's taxable payroll for the federal fiscal year ending on the computation date; and (ii) the cumulative total consisting of the sum of the employer's taxable payroll for the federal fiscal year ending on the computation date and the corresponding taxable payrolls for all other employers preceding that employer on the schedules. (3) The cumulative taxable payroll amounts listed on the schedules provided for in 39-51-1218 must be segregated into groups that will yield approximately the average tax rate according to the tax schedule assigned for that particular taxable year. Each group must be identified by the rate class number listed in the table that represents the percentage limits of each group. Each employer on the schedules is assigned that contribution rate opposite that employer's rate class for the tax schedule in effect for the taxable year. (4) (a) If the grouping of rate classes requires the inclusion of exactly one-half of an employer's taxable payroll, the employer is assigned the lower of the two rates designated for the two classes in which the halves of that employer's taxable payroll are required. (b) If the group of rate classes requires the inclusion of a portion other than exactly one-half of an employer's taxable payroll, the employer is assigned the rate designated for the class in which the greater part of that employer's taxable payroll is required. (c) If one or more employers on the schedules have experience factors identical to that of the last employer included in a particular rate class, those employers are included in and assigned the contribution rate specified for the class. (5) If the taxable payroll amount, the experience factor, or both of any eligible or deficit employer listed on the schedules is changed, the employer is placed in that position on the schedules that the employer would have occupied had that employer's taxable payroll amount or experience factor as changed been used in determining that employer's position in the first instance. However, the change does not affect the position or rate classification of any other employer listed on the schedules and does not affect the rate determination for previous years. (6) An employer who has not filed all required payroll reports or paid all taxes, penalties, and interest due by the cutoff date must be assigned a contribution rate in effect for the taxable year for the employer's classification as an eligible, deficit, or new employer, plus an additional assessment of 50% of the employer's assigned contribution rate, rounded to the nearest 1/100 of 1%.