Unemployment insurance rates will be lower in 2019 for more than 92 percent of the state’s employers required to register and pay state Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). IDES said Illinois business owners are on target to pay $240 million less in UI taxes in 2019 compared to 2018. UI taxes paid by Illinois businesses this year topped $1.9 billion. Employers are expected to pay $1.66 billion in 2019.
“The cost of doing business in Illinois has continued to decline for the vast majority of employers when it comes to Unemployment Insurance,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “Even as our tax rates have been consistently dropping, our UI Trust Fund balance will close out the year at a near-record high of $1.9 billion even as we have paid off $930 million in bonds.”
According to IDES, Illinois businesses paid $3.36 billion in UI taxes in 2012, which means the state has lowered the tax by 50.6 percent over the last seven years.