The current FUTA tax rate is 0.6% and the SUTA tax rate is 5.4% Both taxes are applied to the first 7,000 of an employee's pay.Assume that an employee earned total wages of 2,900 in the current period and had cumulative pay for prior periods of 5,800 . What is the amount of unemployment taxes the employer must pay on this employee's wages for the current period? (Enter the number without a dollar sign or decimal point). square

To calculate the unemployment taxes the employer must pay on this employee's wages for the current period, we need to determine how much of the employee's wages are subject to FUTA and SUTA taxes.<br /><br />1. **Determine the total cumulative wages after the current period:**<br /><br /> \[<br /> \text{Cumulative wages before current period} = \$5,800<br /> \]<br /> \[<br /> \text{Wages in current period} = \$2,900<br /> \]<br /> \[<br /> \text{Total cumulative wages} = \$5,800 + \$2,900 = \$8,700<br /> \]<br /><br />2. **Calculate the amount of wages subject to unemployment taxes:**<br /><br /> Since both FUTA and SUTA taxes apply only to the first \$7,000 of an employee's annual wages, we need to find out how much of the current period's wages fall within this limit.<br /><br /> \[<br /> \text{Maximum taxable wages} = \$7,000<br /> \]<br /> \[<br /> \text{Cumulative wages before current period} = \$5,800<br /> \]<br /><br /> The remaining amount that can be taxed is:<br /><br /> \[<br /> \text{Remaining taxable wages} = \$7,000 - \$5,800 = \$1,200<br /> \]<br /><br /> Since the employee earned \$2,900 in the current period, only \$1,200 of these wages are subject to FUTA and SUTA taxes.<br /><br />3. **Calculate the FUTA tax:**<br /><br /> \[<br /> \text{FUTA tax rate} = 0.6\%<br /> \]<br /> \[<br /> \text{FUTA tax} = 0.006 \times \$1,200 = \$7.20<br /> \]<br /><br />4. **Calculate the SUTA tax:**<br /><br /> \[<br /> \text{SUTA tax rate} = 5.4\%<br /> \]<br /> \[<br /> \text{SUTA tax} = 0.054 \times \$1,200 = \$64.80<br /> \]<br /><br />5. **Calculate the total unemployment taxes:**<br /><br /> \[<br /> \text{Total unemployment taxes} = \text{FUTA tax} + \text{SUTA tax} = \$7.20 + \$64.80 = \$72.00<br /> \]<br /><br />Therefore, the amount of unemployment taxes the employer must pay on this employee's wages for the current period is \( \boxed{72} \).