Unemployment rate, taxable wage base, minimum wage and withholding
Federal payroll rules are identical everywhere; the money differs by state. What Montana assigns a new Darby employer, what wage base it applies, and what its minimum wage requires are below with state sources.
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account.
Montana sets the new-employer unemployment tax rate by state formula rather than as one flat number, and applies it to the first $47,300 of each employee's wages per year - the state-set portion of every Darby payroll, shown in full in the table below.
Montana sets its minimum wage at $10.85, the floor every Darby hourly rate has to clear before overtime, tip credits and local ordinances are applied on top.
Employers in Darby's county pay about $44,085 a year per employee on average across 11,260 covered jobs (Census County Business Patterns 2023) - the wage base every unemployment rate and withholding schedule is applied to locally.
Federal payroll rules are identical in every state; the expensive differences are local. Montana assigns a state unemployment tax rate and a taxable wage base, sets a minimum wage that may sit above the federal floor, and runs its own withholding registration and deposit schedule. Any Darby payroll quote that does not account for those is a quote for a different business.
Two Darby businesses with identical payrolls can owe materially different amounts because of Montana's unemployment tax alone: new employers are assigned a starting rate, experience moves it within a statutory band, and the taxable wage base decides how much of each salary the rate applies to. Both figures are published by the state and shown below with sources.
Put a state payroll setup review out to competing quotes before you compare prices
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.
What Montana adds to every payroll
| Question | Montana answer |
|---|---|
| State unemployment tax - new employer rate | 1.00%-1.30% depending on industry (2.00% if unclassified), plus 0.18% Administrative Fund Tax (range 0.00%-6.12% (Schedule 1), excluding the separate 0.18% Administrative Fund Tax) |
| Taxable wage base per employee | $47,300 - Primary source: MT DLI Contributions Bureau 'UI Contribution Taxable Wage Base & Rates for 2026' |
| State minimum wage | $10.85 - $10.85/hr current rate (Montana DLI) |
| State income tax withholding | graduated, roughly 4.7%–5.65% |
Montana assigns a brand-new employer's rate by NAICS-style industry group rather than one flat rate, and layers a separate 0.18% Administrative Fund Tax on every employer - so even an employer at a 0.00% UI rate still writes a check.
This page is independent research, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Federal deposit rules and state wage, unemployment and final-paycheck laws change - verify current requirements with the IRS and your state labor and revenue agencies, or with a licensed CPA or attorney, before acting.
Why two identical Darby payrolls owe different amounts
Unemployment tax is charged as a rate against a capped amount of each employee's wages, and both halves of that formula are state decisions. A new Darby employer is assigned a starting rate; once there is claims history the rate moves within the state's statutory band. The wage base decides how much of a salary the rate touches - which is why a state with a high base and a low rate can cost more than the reverse. Neither number is negotiable, but both are worth knowing before comparing payroll quotes that quietly assume one state.
What this means in Darby
Withheld income tax and the employee share of FICA are trust funds - money that was never the company's. That is why the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty can reach an owner or officer personally, and why 'the company can't pay' is not an exit from this particular bill.
This page is independent research, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Federal deposit rules and state wage, unemployment and final-paycheck laws change - verify current requirements with the IRS and your state labor and revenue agencies, or with a licensed CPA or attorney, before acting.
Put a state payroll setup review out to competing quotes before you compare prices
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.
Common questions
What hidden fees do payroll companies charge?
The recurring surprises are year-end W-2 and 1099 filing at roughly 4-8 dollars per form, additional state tax filings at 6-20 dollars per state per month for remote employees, off-cycle or bonus runs at 5-50 dollars each, setup or implementation fees, charges for mailed paper checks, and per-employee fees that continue for terminated staff. Ask for the full fee schedule in writing, not the pricing page.
Can I do payroll myself instead?
Yes, and for a single-state business with a handful of salaried employees, software plus discipline is genuinely cheaper. The variables that change the answer are multi-state employees, hourly overtime, tipped wages, garnishments and turnover - each multiplies the number of deadlines. For scale, an in-house payroll specialist averages about $64,865 dollars a year in 2026 wage data, so the real comparison for most small employers is software plus your own hours versus a service.
How much does a payroll service cost for a small business?
In 2026 published pricing, payroll services charge a monthly base fee of roughly $20-$150 dollars plus $4-$15 dollars per employee per month. A ten-employee business commonly lands between $70 and $250 dollars a month before add-ons. Full outsourced processing is often quoted per person instead, at roughly $30-$100 dollars per employee per month. These are directional market ranges, not quotes.
What is the penalty for depositing payroll taxes late?
The federal failure-to-deposit penalty runs 2% for deposits up to 5 days late, 5% for 5-15 days, 10% beyond 15 days, and 15% if the tax remains unpaid more than ten days after the IRS issues a notice. Filing Form 941 late adds a separate penalty of about 5% of the unpaid tax per month, capped near 25%.
Do I have to file W-2s and 1099s electronically?
Almost certainly yes. The threshold dropped to 10 returns: if you file 10 or more information returns of all types combined in a calendar year, they must be filed electronically. Articles still citing the old 250-return threshold are out of date. Any full-service payroll provider files electronically as standard - confirm it is included rather than billed per form.
Put a state payroll setup review out to competing quotes before you compare prices
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.