Chart 4 below shows the national percentage of contributing employers who filed their contribution and wage reports timely. The trend line on the chart suggests that there has been improvement in this area for the period of time from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2003. States appear to be making progress in working with employers to ensure they file their reports timely. Note that the trend line rises about 3% from 85% to approximately 88%. The detailed data on Table 2 for the quarter ending 12/31/2003, shows the national aggregate percentage to be 88.6%, which is the second highest quarter shown on the chart. Only in the 3Q2003 was performance better at 88.8%.
The chart also illustrates the tendency of employers to be more compliant in filing their third and fourth quarter tax reports than for the first and second quarters. This may be due to employers' efforts to comply with other filing requirements for year-end reports.
The data for the 4Q2000 do not follow the normal trend. The low percentage shown was primarily due to unusually low percentages for timely filing reported by Florida (55.4%) and California (63.8%) for the 4Q2000. Large states such as California and Florida obviously have much more effect on the national aggregate percentage than smaller states.
