I received a notice saying my contribution report and wage schedule were "out of balance." What does this mean?

The most common cause of an "out of balance" condition is the failure to make sure that the individual wage amounts for each employee listed on the wage schedule really do add up to equal the Total Wages amount on line 2 of the Alaska Quarterly Contribution Report form. Once all the wage items are entered into the computer, they are added and compared to the total wages amount reported from line 2. If the amount doesn't match - you get a notice in the mail.

Sometimes the employer simply makes an addition error. Sometimes the employer includes people in the wage schedule who should not be taxed, and later subtracts those wage amounts without removing the same wage items from the wage schedule.

Sometimes, we made a mistake keying either the total wage amount or one or more of the wage items from the wages schedule. The keying practices we employ are designed to minimize this, but out of the 300,000 wage items keyed each quarter, it can happen.

Now what? Check the sum of the wages listed for each employee and the amount entered on line 2 of your quarterly report. If they do not match, make the necessary corrections, and return the form with the corrections, as requested. If you find that virtually all the employees are affected (example: you reported taxable wages for each employee rather than total wages) it is likely better to file an amended report.

If it is our keying error - or if you have other questions about correcting an "out-of-balance" please contact your nearest Employment Security Contribution representative. We will do our best to fix the problem as quickly as possible.