(1) Contributions shall accrue and become payable by each employer for each calendar year in which he is subject to this chapter. Such contributions shall become due and be paid by each employer to the department for the fund each calendar quarter on or before the last day of the month next succeeding each calendar quarter in which the contributions accrue unless the employer has filed an election with the department to participate in the Mississippi Level Payment Plan (MLPP) and complies with the provision of the MLPP. The department may extend the due date of such contributions if the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or state or federal holiday. Such contributions shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the wages of individuals in such employer’s employ.

(2)

(a) Any employer who is a newly subject employer or any employer who meets the requirements of participation in the MLPP shall be allowed one (1) participation election per year. The department may by regulation establish exceptions to this rule as appropriate. The department shall establish by regulation the requirements for computation and adjustment of compensation and shall compute the amount of payments that will be made quarterly and notify each employer before the first tax payment is due for the year. Equal payments will be made for calendar quarters ending March, June and September and settlement will be made for any overage or shortage at the time payment is due for the December quarter.

(b) An employer who meets the following criteria may participate in the MLPP:

(i) The employer has not been delinquent in filing unemployment reports or paying unemployment taxes to the department during the last two (2) calendar years and must make current all other delinquent unemployment taxes and reports;

(ii) The employer has been an employer subject to the unemployment laws of the State of Mississippi, or in accordance with department regulations regarding MLPP, for at least twelve (12) months prior to the year the employer starts participating;

(iii) The employer must agree to file reports through the department’s online system or other agency prescribed electronic facility and pay electronically;

(iv) The employer remains current in filing and paying taxes; and

(v) The employer must make the election by April 1 of the year.

(c) Employers who participate in the MLPP and pay their contribution by bank draft shall utilize the pay schedule provided for in this paragraph. The pay schedule shall be as follows:

(i) January to March due date May 15;

(ii) April to June due date August 15;

(iii) July to September due date November 15; and

(iv) October to December due date January 31.

(d) In the event the computed Size of Fund Index (SOFI) for any rate year computation falls below one percent (1.0%), the additional fifteen (15) days’ delay provided for bank draft customers will be suspended for that year.

(3) For purposes of payment of contributions on remuneration paid to individuals, if two (2) or more related corporations concurrently employ the same individual and compensate such individual through a common paymaster which is one of such corporations, each such corporation shall be considered to have paid as remuneration to such individual only the amounts actually disbursed by it to such individual and shall not be considered to have paid as remuneration to such individual such amounts actually disbursed to such individual by another of such corporations.

In the payment of any contributions, a fractional part of a cent shall be disregarded unless it amounts to One-half Cent (½¢) or more, in which case it shall be increased to One Cent (1¢).

(4) For the purposes of this section and Sections 71-5-353, 71-5-357 and 71-5-359, taxable wages shall not include that part of remuneration which, after remuneration equal to Seven Thousand Dollars ($7,000.00) through December 31, 2010, and Fourteen Thousand Dollars ($14,000.00) thereafter, has been paid in a calendar year to an individual by an employer or his predecessor with respect to employment during any calendar year, is paid to such individual by such employer during such calendar year unless that part of the remuneration is subject to a tax under a federal law imposing a tax against which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state employment fund. For the purposes of this section, the term “employment” shall include service constituting employment under any unemployment compensation law of another state.

(5) Absent evidence of willful or fraudulent attempt to avoid taxation, the effective date of liability of an employer or assessment of liability for covered employment against an employer shall not occur for any period preceding the three (3) calendar years before the date of registration or assessment, unless said three-year limitations period is waived by the employer.

(6) The executive director may grant a reasonable extension of time beyond the statutory due date within which to file any report required by this section to an employer located in an area included in a declaration of an emergency or disaster by the President or the Governor. The executive director may, in his discretion, recognize extensions of time authorized and granted by the Internal Revenue Service for the filing of tax returns.