WSU has been informed by the Employment Security Department (ESD) that due to a high volume of exemption applications, there will be some that are not processed in time to prevent the WA Cares Long Term Care tax from being withheld on July 10, 2023.
Due to this delay, any applications submitted to ESD before July 1 will have an effective exemption date of July 1, regardless of when the application is approved. This will result in the WA Cares tax being deducted from wages beginning July 10. However, once the approved exemption letter is issued to the employee, and provided to Payroll Services, any deductions taken will be reimbursed, assuming the exemption letter is submitted to Payroll between July and September.
If the approval letter reflects a July 1, 2023 exemption effective date, but is turned into Payroll Services October 1, 2023 or later, deductions will cease the first of the next quarter and prior deductions will not be refunded.
Since the new exemptions can be pursued at any time, generally the tax will cease the first of the quarter following the exemption effective date reflected on the letter. For example, if someone pursued the exemption now, and they received approval from ESD in August, and a copy of the approval letter was submitted to Payroll Services in August or September, the tax would cease as of the October 10, 2023 paycheck.
To learn about the exemption options, and about the WA Cares Fund LTC benefits, please visit WSU Long Term Care or WA Cares Fund.