--- title: "Nevada Payroll 2026: No Income Tax, MBT & UI" description: "Nevada has no state income tax in 2026, but employers still owe the Modified Business Tax and a 2.95% new-employer UI rate on a $43,700 wage base. Teamed EOR guide." canonical: https://www.teamed.global/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance --- United States · Nevada · State tax child Served by Teamed US Inc., Delaware · Payroll via SUNA Solutions # How does *Nevada state income tax and unemployment insurance* work in 2026? Nevada has no state income tax. What employers fund instead is the Modified Business Tax and a $43,700 unemployment wage base at a 3.00% new-employer rate. Last reviewed 6 June 2026 · Nevada, United States guide ![Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada at dusk: modern high-rise office towers with the surrounding desert mountains under a clear evening sky.](/cluster-assets/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance/images/hero.webp) Illustration · Las Vegas, Nevada Hire in Nevada and your withholding column is blank: the state constitution bars a personal income tax, so there is **no state income tax** and no W-4 equivalent to file. That part genuinely is simple. Your employer cost sits in two other boxes. The **Modified Business Tax** charges **1.17%** on quarterly wages above $50,000. [Unemployment insurance](/country-hiring-guides/united-states) runs on a **$43,700 wage base** at a combined new-employer rate of **3.00%**, up to about $1,311 per employee a year. ## Does Nevada have a state income tax in 2026? No. Nevada is one of nine US states with no personal state income tax, and the state constitution bars one, so there is **zero state income tax withholding** on your Nevada payroll in 2026. There is no Nevada equivalent of the W-4 and no state bracket table. That does not mean no employer cost. Nevada funds its government through the Modified Business Tax and unemployment insurance instead, so your Nevada line items move from withholding into payroll tax. For your employee, no state income tax is real take-home: your Las Vegas hire keeps more of the same gross salary than a Sacramento one. For you, the withholding side of payroll is the easiest in the country, because nothing is withheld for the state and no state reconciliation return is filed. The trap is assuming "no income tax" means "no Nevada payroll obligation". It does not. You still register with the [Nevada Department of Taxation](https://tax.nv.gov/) for the Modified Business Tax and with the [Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR)](https://detr.nv.gov/) for unemployment insurance, and you still run the full federal stack. The cost did not disappear. It changed boxes. Compare Nevada's zero-withholding setup with how [California's graduated brackets and SDI](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/california/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance) add to your payroll burden. ## What is Nevada's Modified Business Tax, and who pays it? The Modified Business Tax (MBT) is Nevada's state payroll tax. General-business employers pay **1.17%** on gross quarterly wages above **$50,000**, after deducting employer-paid health insurance premiums. Financial institutions and mining companies pay **1.554%** on all wages with no exemption. The rates have held since 1 July 2023 and are unchanged for 2026. Nevada Dept of Taxation · NRS 363B Add a Nevada hire and you owe **1.17%** on every dollar of gross quarterly wages above **$50,000**. Financial institutions pay **1.554%** on all wages with no exemption. File each quarter via the Nevada Tax Center. Source: [Nevada Department of Taxation, MBT FAQ](https://tax.nv.gov/FAQs/Modified_Business_Tax_Information___FAQs/) The $50,000 quarterly threshold is generous: a small Nevada team whose taxable wages stay under it owes no MBT, though you still file a return each quarter even when nothing is due. Returns are due 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January under [NRS Chapter 363B](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-363B.html). The health-premium deduction matters for your cost model. Employer-paid health insurance comes off the taxable wage figure before the 1.17% rate applies, so a richer benefits plan lowers your MBT base as well as helping you hire. The MBT runs alongside your [Nevada wage obligations](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law), including the flat minimum wage and daily overtime rule. ## What is Nevada's unemployment insurance wage base and rate for 2026? Nevada's UI taxable wage base is **$43,700 per employee** for 2026, up from $41,800 in 2025. New employers pay a UI rate of **2.95%**. Add the **0.05%** Career Enhancement Program levy and the combined new-employer rate is **3.00%**, a maximum of about **$1,311 per employee a year**. Nevada sets the wage base each year at two-thirds of the average annual wage paid to Nevada workers, which is why it rose from $41,800 to $43,700 for 2026. You pay UI on the first $43,700 of each employee's wages; everything above that in the calendar year is not taxed. Compare that ceiling with [Arizona's UI wage base](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/arizona/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance) if you're weighing a multi-state Southwest footprint. You hold the 2.95% rate for 14 to 17 calendar quarters, then move onto an experience rating set by your own claims history. File and pay via [Nevada DETR's employer portal](https://detr.nv.gov/Page/UI_Information_for_Employers). The federal layer sits on top: [FUTA](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/futa-tax) is 6.0 percent on the first $7,000 of wages, less the full credit for compliant state payers, leaving an effective 0.6%. [Social Security](https://www.ssa.gov/employer/) and Medicare contributions run on the federal schedule for all Nevada employees. ## What other payroll rules apply to Nevada employees? You run the full federal stack: Social Security at **6.2%** to $184,500, Medicare at 1.45%, and FUTA. Nevada's minimum wage is **$12 an hour**, one flat rate with no tip credit. Nevada also mandates paid leave. Employers with **50 or more employees** must let staff accrue paid leave usable for any reason, up to 40 hours a year, under SB312. Two Nevada quirks catch out-of-state employers. First, the SB312 "any reason" paid leave: it is not sick leave, the employee does not have to give a reason, and it accrues at roughly one hour for every 52 hours worked under [NRS 608](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-608.html). The full accrual rules are covered in the [Nevada paid leave guide](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/paid-family-and-sick-leave). Second, daily overtime: an employee paid less than one-and-a-half times minimum wage earns overtime after 8 hours in a day, not just after 40 in a week. See the [Nevada wage and overtime guide](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law) for the full daily overtime calculation. Nevada has no state paid-family-leave programme and no state disability insurance, so [federal FMLA](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla) at 50 employees is the only job-protected family leave layer. The $12 minimum wage is fixed: the 2022 constitutional amendment removed the old two-tier system and there is no automatic inflation adjustment. If you're making an at-will employment decision about a Nevada hire, the [Nevada termination guide](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/termination-law-and-at-will-exceptions) covers the state exceptions that chip away at the default. ## How Teamed runs Nevada payroll end to end Teamed becomes your legal employer of record in Nevada for [**from $599 per employee per month flat**](/pricing). **Zero FX mark-up**. Statutory employer cost passes through itemised on every invoice. You hire the person. Teamed registers with the Nevada Department of Taxation and DETR, files the Modified Business Tax quarterly, runs unemployment insurance, and tracks SB312 leave accrual. Everything runs on **one platform**. **Real HR and legal experts** handle your Nevada hires and know the MBT quarterly cadence, the $43,700 UI wage base, and the daily-overtime rule in full. **An actual person**, not a chatbot or a pooled queue. You see every cost: the Modified Business Tax, UI contributions, and federal employer taxes **pass through at cost, itemised** and auditable on every invoice. **No setup fee, no exit fee.** Contractor onboarding, [EOR payroll](/employer-of-record), and entity graduation all live on **one platform**: a Nevada contractor who converts to W-2 keeps their record, and that same employee can **graduate** to your own US entity without switching systems. Because Nevada has no income tax and a light withholding burden, the cost case for your own entity arrives later per headcount than in California. Use the [Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) to see the month the model flips. See [how Teamed's from $599 flat fee and zero FX mark-up compare](/pricing) to what you'd run in-house. EOR is the right model for Nevada, **until it isn't**. Teamed Client Operations The mistake we see on Nevada is treating no state income tax as no payroll cost. The Modified Business Tax, the unemployment wage base, and the daily-overtime rule are all live employer obligations. The withholding column is empty; the employer-tax column is not. Budget for the boxes that actually carry the cost. A note from Tom Price-Daniel Nevada has no state income tax. That is the line every relocation deck leads with. It is also the line that hides the Modified Business Tax, a 3.00% new-employer UI rate, and a $43,700 wage base your finance team still has to fund. No income tax is not no payroll cost. The gap between those two is the part we run for you. Tom Price-Daniel · Co-founder, Teamed ## Related United States guides - [Hiring in the United States, overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states)country parent - [Nevada wages, overtime & meal breaks](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law)sibling - [Nevada paid family & sick leave](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/paid-family-and-sick-leave)sibling - [Nevada termination & at-will exceptions](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/nevada/termination-law-and-at-will-exceptions)sibling - [Arizona state tax & UI](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/arizona/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance)cross-state neighbour - [Utah state tax & UI](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/utah/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance)cross-state neighbour - [Employer of Record overview](/employer-of-record)core - [Pricing, Zero FX Fixed](/pricing)core - [EOR vs Entity Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator)tool - [Employer Cost Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/employer-cost)tool - [Talk to an expert](https://www.teamed.global/contact)CTA A note on this page. This is a guide, not legal advice. Nevada's Modified Business Tax rates, UI wage base and rate schedule, minimum wage, and SB312 leave rules update when the legislature acts or the Department of Taxation and DETR issue new figures. Confirm specific numbers with the Nevada Department of Taxation, DETR, or your Teamed US specialist before relying on any figure here.