Delaware Unemployment Quarterly Tax Report: Form UC-8

Delaware employers file Form UC-8, the Quarterly Tax Report, with the Division of Unemployment Insurance to report wages and pay unemployment insurance tax each quarter. For 2026, tax applies to the first $14,500 of each employee’s annual wages, at an assigned rate between 0.4% and 5.4%.¹²³

What to Gather Before You File

You will need your Delaware Department of Labor employer account number and your Federal Employer Identification Number to log in to the state’s portal. From your payroll records, pull each employee’s full name, Social Security number, and gross wages for the quarter. Verify every Social Security number against federal records before you submit; the state cross-references this data to track benefit eligibility, and a mismatch will delay processing.

Under Delaware law, “wages” covers all remuneration for personal services, including commissions, bonuses, dismissal payments, holiday pay, back pay, and the cash value of any non-cash compensation. Tips employees receive from customers also count as wages from the employer. If you pay any part of compensation in a form other than cash, report a reasonable cash value.⁴

Form UC-8 is the summary where you report total wages and calculate tax owed. Form UC-8A, filed with it, lists individual employee wage details. Both are available as a combined PDF from the Division of Unemployment Insurance.⁵

2026 Wage Base and Tax Rates

Tax applies only to the first $14,500 of each employee’s wages for the 2026 calendar year. Anything above that is not subject to unemployment tax. The base wage was $12,500 for 2025; it rose because Delaware ties the number to the balance of the state Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, and the fund entered 2026 lower.⁴

Every employer receives an individual assessment rate each year based on their benefit wage ratio — how much former employees have drawn in unemployment claims against your account, measured against the taxable wages you paid. Delaware uses two rate schedules keyed to the average high-cost multiple, or AHCM, a measure of whether the fund could sustain a recession-level surge in claims. Schedule A (0.3% to 5.4%) applies when the AHCM is 1.0 or higher; Schedule B (0.4% to 5.4%) applies when it is below 1.0. Delaware’s AHCM for 2025 was 0.91, placing employers on Schedule B.⁶ The Division announces the schedule and rates before each calendar year begins.³

New employers with no claims history pay a flat 1.0% for assessment years 2025 and 2026.³ To compute your quarterly tax, add each employee’s taxable wages for the quarter (capped at $14,500 for the year), then multiply the total by your assigned rate.

Filing Through Online Employer Services

Delaware employers file quarterly reports through the Online Employer Services portal at oes.delawareworks.com. The portal lets you file wage reports, submit adjustment applications, update employer information, and pay outstanding taxes; new employers can also register for an account there.⁷

After you enter wage data, the portal walks you through confirmation screens so you can reconcile the numbers against your internal payroll before submission. The final step is an electronic signature, which under Delaware’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act carries the same legal force as a signature on a paper form.⁸

Employers who obtain a waiver may file a paper UC-8 by mail to the Division. The state also accepts wage data by magnetic media for employers meeting the reporting requirements. Paper must be clearly legible; the data is manually entered.⁵

Paying the Tax

You can pay through the portal by ACH debit, with the state pulling funds from your business bank account, or by ACH credit, initiated from your own bank. Credit card payments may be available for immediate processing, with convenience fees. The system generates a filing receipt as your proof of compliance.

Quarterly Deadlines

Reports and payments are due by the last day of the month following the close of each quarter: April 30 for the first quarter, July 31 for the second, October 31 for the third, and January 31 for the fourth. When a due date falls on a weekend or state-recognized holiday, it moves to the next business day.

For 2026, the first-quarter report is due May 29, 2026, rather than April 30.¹ Confirm each quarter’s deadline through Online Employer Services before you file, because the state can adjust dates when circumstances warrant.

Penalties for Late Filing or Payment

Late payments accrue interest at 1.5% per month, and a $17.50 penalty applies to each late report.² The bigger cost is the delinquency assessment rate. If required reports and payments for periods ending on or before June 30 have not been received by September 30 of that year, your rate for the next calendar year is set at 6.3%, regardless of your actual claims experience.³

The difference adds up quickly. An employer at a 0.4% rate pays $58 per employee per year on the $14,500 base; at 6.3%, the same employer owes $913.50 per employee. For a 20-person business, the gap is about $17,000. The Department can waive the delinquency rate for good cause, but a waiver requires a compelling reason and is not something to plan around.

Correcting a Report You Already Filed

Do not fix errors by adjusting numbers on a later quarter’s UC-8. Delaware requires each UC-8 to show only current-period wages. Prior-period wage and tax corrections go through a separate Adjustment Application, which you can submit through Online Employer Services or download from the Division’s forms page.⁷

Changes to employer status or pre-printed form information — a business name change, an updated address — go on Form UC-8C instead.⁷ File corrections promptly. Unresolved discrepancies feed into your benefit wage ratio and can raise the rate the Division assigns you the following year.

1
Delaware Department of Labor. Online Employer Services
2
Delaware Department of Labor. Employer FAQs
3
Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 19 Chapter 33 Subchapter III
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Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 19 Chapter 33 Subchapter I
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Delaware Department of Labor. Unemployment Insurance Forms for Employers
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State of Delaware. Delaware Division of Unemployment Insurance Announces New Tax Schedules for 2025
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Delaware Department of Labor. Unemployment Insurance Employer Handbook
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Justia. Delaware Code 12A-107 Legal Recognition of Electronic Records, Electronic Signatures, and Electronic Contracts