State officials say nearly 120 businesses in Iowa have failed to report wages for hundreds of employees and owe the state thousands of dollars in unemployment taxes, interest and fines. Iowa Workforce Development Deputy Director Joe Walsh says the majority of Iowa’s companies are following the rules.
“Then, we’ve got some companies competing with them that are improperly misclassifying their workers,” Walsh said. “They’re trying to pretend their workers are actually independent contractors, thereby they don’t pay into the unemployment insurance tax system, they don’t get them covered under workers compensation and they don’t pay the revenue taxes on them.”
The state identified the companies through the creation of a special task force last September. Walsh says, to date, they’ve found 116 employers misclassifying 887 workers and failing to report more than $15.5 million in wages. The companies owe the state around $712,000.
Walsh says the companies, combined, owe roughly $555,600 in unemployment taxes and more than $156,000 in interest and fines.
