The Florida Senate

443.163  Electronic reporting and remitting of contributions and reimbursements.--

(1)  An employer may file any report and remit any contributions or reimbursements required under this chapter by electronic means. The Agency for Workforce Innovation or the state agency providing unemployment tax collection services shall adopt rules prescribing the format and instructions necessary for electronically filing reports and remitting contributions and reimbursements to ensure a full collection of contributions and reimbursements due. The acceptable method of transfer, the method, form, and content of the electronic means, and the method, if any, by which the employer will be provided with an acknowledgment shall be prescribed by the Agency for Workforce Innovation or its tax collection service provider. However, any employer who employed 10 or more employees in any quarter during the preceding state fiscal year must file the Employers Quarterly Reports (UCT-6) for the current calendar year and remit the contributions and reimbursements due by electronic means approved by the ¹tax collection service provider. A person who prepared and reported for 100 or more employers in any quarter during the preceding state fiscal year must file the Employers Quarterly Reports (UCT-6) for each calendar quarter in the current calendar year, beginning with reports due for the second calendar quarter of 2003, by electronic means approved by the tax collection service provider.

(2)  An employer who is required by law to file an Employers Quarterly Report (UCT-6) by electronic means, but who files the report by a means other than electronic means, is liable for a penalty of $10 for that report, which is in addition to any other applicable penalty provided by this chapter, unless the employer first obtains a waiver of this requirement from the tax collection service provider. An employer who fails to remit contributions or reimbursements by electronic means as required by law is liable for a penalty of $10 for each remittance submitted by a means other than electronic means, which is in addition to any other applicable penalty provided by this chapter. A person who prepared and reported for 100 or more employers in any quarter during the preceding state fiscal year, but who fails to file an Employers Quarterly Report (UCT-6) for each calendar quarter in the current calendar year by electronic means as required by law, is liable for a penalty of $10 for that report, which is in addition to any other applicable penalty provided by this chapter, unless the person first obtains a waiver of this requirement from the tax collection service provider.

(3)  The tax collection service provider may waive the requirement to file an Employers Quarterly Report (UCT-6) by electronic means for employers that are unable to comply despite good faith efforts or due to circumstances beyond the employer's reasonable control.

(a)  As prescribed by the Agency for Workforce Innovation or its tax collection service provider, grounds for approving the waiver include, but are not limited to, circumstances in which the employer does not:

1.  Currently file information or data electronically with any business or government agency; or

2.  Have a compatible computer that meets or exceeds the standards prescribed by the Agency for Workforce Innovation or its tax collection service provider.

(b)  The tax collection service provider shall accept other reasons for requesting a waiver from the requirement to submit the Employers Quarterly Report (UCT-6) by electronic means, including, but not limited to:

1.  That the employer needs additional time to program his or her computer;

2.  That complying with this requirement causes the employer financial hardship; or

3.  That complying with this requirement conflicts with the employer's business procedures.

(c)  The Agency for Workforce Innovation or the state agency providing unemployment tax collection services may establish by rule the length of time a waiver is valid and may determine whether subsequent waivers will be authorized, based on this subsection; however, the tax collection service provider may only grant a waiver from electronic reporting if the employer timely files the Employers Quarterly Report (UCT-6) by telefile, unless the employer wage detail exceeds the service provider's telefile system capabilities.

(4)  As used in this section, the term "electronic means" includes, but is not limited to, electronic data interchange; electronic funds transfer; and use of the Internet, telephone, or other technology specified by the Agency for Workforce Innovation or its tax collection service provider.

History.--s. 35, ch. 99-208; s. 52, ch. 2002-218; s. 40, ch. 2003-36; s. 28, ch. 2003-254.

¹Note.--As amended by s. 40, ch. 2003-36, which is a comprehensive rewrite of unemployment compensation law. Section 28, ch. 2003-254, also amended this language and used "the Agency for Workforce Innovation or its designee" instead of "tax collection service provider." The designee is the tax collection service provider.