Idaho Code
Idaho Code § 72-1328 (2026)
Wages.
✓ current as of May 2026
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Wages.
(1) "Wages" shall include all remuneration, or the cash value of all remuneration in a medium other than cash, for personal services performed or to be performed, from whatever source, including, without limitation:
(a) Hourly and salaried earnings, commissions, bonuses, draws, distributions, dividends, and any other forms or types of payments if paid in exchange for services;
(b) Bonuses, prizes, and gifts given to an employee in recognition of services, sales, or production;
(c) Commissions for past services in covered employment;
(d) Remuneration paid to corporate officers in exchange for services performed or to be performed for or on behalf of the corporation;
(e) Salary advances against commissions;
(f) All forms of profit sharing for services rendered unless specifically exempt under this chapter;
(g) Excess travel or employer business allowances over actual expense, or over the federal allowance per diem rate for the area of travel, unless returned to the employer;
(h) Vacation or idle-time pay, no matter when paid;
(i) Personal expense reimbursement, such as clothing, family expenses, and rent;
(j) All tips received while performing services in covered employment totaling twenty dollars ($20.00) or more in a month, which are reported in writing to the employer as required under federal law; and
(k) Any employer contribution under a qualified cash or deferred agreement as defined in 26 U.S.C. 401(k) to the extent such contribution is not included in gross income by reason of 26 U.S.C. 402(a)(8).
(2) The term "wages" shall not include:
(a) Payments (including any amount paid by an employer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment) made to or on behalf of an individual or any of his dependents under a plan established by an employer that makes provision generally for individuals performing service for him (or for such individuals generally and their dependents) or for a class or classes of such individuals (or for a class or classes of such individuals and their dependents) on account of: (i) sickness or accident disability (but, in the case of payments made to an employee or any of his dependents, this subparagraph shall exclude from the term "wages" only payments received under a worker’s compensation law), or (ii) medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, or (iii) death;
(b) Payments on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, made by an employer to or on behalf of an individual performing services for him after the expiration of six (6) calendar months following the last calendar month in which the individual performed services for such employer;
(c) Payments made by an employer to or on behalf of an individual performing services for him or his beneficiary: (i) from or to a trust described in section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code that is exempt from tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code at the time of such payment unless such payment is made to an individual performing services for the trust as remuneration for such services and not as a beneficiary of the trust, or (ii) under or to an annuity plan that, at the time of such payments, is a plan described in section 403(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, or (iii) under a cafeteria plan within the meaning of section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code;
(d) Payments made by an employer (without deduction from the remuneration of the individual in its employ) of the tax imposed on an individual in his employ under section 3101 of the Internal Revenue Code;
(e) Noncash payments for farm work. Noncash payments for farm work will be excluded from wages if they are de minimis in relation to the amount of cash wages paid to the farmworkers or are not intended to be treated as the cash equivalent of wages or as the cash payment of wages;
(f) Prizes or gifts for special occasions that are expressions of goodwill;
(g) Bonuses paid for signing a contract;
(h) Fees paid to participate periodically in meetings of boards of directors unless exceedingly high as compared to other employers in the same industry of relatively the same size;
(i) Drawings or advances by partners of a partnership or by members of a limited liability company treated for federal tax purposes as a partnership or sole proprietorship;
(j) Charges pursuant to a rental agreement for personal equipment provided by the employee on the job if the employee has received a reasonable wage for services performed and the fees are held separately on the employer’s records;
(k) Stock or membership interests issued for purposes other than services performed or to be performed;
(l) Reimbursement for actual employee expenses or business allowance arrangements with employees that requires them to have paid or incurred reasonable job-related expenses while performing services as employees, to account adequately to the employer for these expenses, and to return any excess reimbursement or allowance;
(m) Payments for employee travel expenses, provided payments are job-related expenses incurred while performing services, payments do not exceed actual expenses or the federal allowance per diem rate for the area of travel, and records for days of travel pertaining to per diem payments are verifiable;
(n) Employee fringe benefits as set forth in section 132 of the Internal Revenue Code, which are excluded from an employee’s gross income and not subject to federal unemployment taxes; or
(o) Payments of any kind by a partnership to its partner or by a sole proprietorship to its owner.
(3) Any third party making a sickness or accident disability payment not excluded from wages under subsection (2)(a)(i) of this section shall be treated as the employer with respect to such payment of wages for the purposes of this chapter.
(4) The department shall determine the fair market value of any other remuneration, regardless of its classification, form, or label, that is paid to a worker in exchange for services, taking into account factors such as the prevailing wage for similar services and wages specified in any contract of hire. Any wages so determined by the department shall be reported to the employer.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10
cases, 1949–2014 · leading case: Vendx Mktg. Co. v. Dep't of Emp., 841 P.2d 420 (Idaho 1992).
Vendx Mktg. Co. v. Dep't of Emp., 841 P.2d 420 (Idaho 1992). “" I.C. § 72-1328(a). [1] Services performed by an individual for remuneration come within the definition of covered employment: *426 (1) Unless it is shown: (A) That the worker has been and will continue to be free from control or direction in the performance of his work, both…”
Hatch v. Emp. Sec. Agency, 313 P.2d 1067 (Idaho 1957). “"(a) The term `wages' means all remuneration for personal services from whatever source, including commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all remuneration in any medium other than cash.”
Melody's Kitchen v. Harris, 757 P.2d 190 (Idaho 1988). “03; if remuneration paid to the claimant was wages for unemployment insurance purposes, according to Section 72-1328(a) of the Idaho Employment Security Law.”
W. Home Transp., Inc. v. Idaho Dep't of Labor, 318 P.3d 940 (Idaho 2014). “” I.C. § 72-1328(1)(a). Unless the putative employer shows that an exemption applies, “[s]ervices performed by an individual for remuneration shall, for the purposes of the employment security law, be covered employment.”
Totusek v. Dep't of Emp., 535 P.2d 672 (Idaho 1975). “On June 16, 1972 the respondent Department issued to Totusek a determination letter holding that moneys paid by him to Troy and Spickard in connection with the operation of the Coeur d’Alene and Lewis-ton offices were “wages” (I.C. § 72-1328) paid in “covered employment” (I.”
Cahoon v. Emp. Sec. Agency, 351 P.2d 477 (Idaho 1960). “Appellant was, according to his own statements, performing services for which he was given credit upon an existing debt.”
In Re Pac. Nat. Life Assur. Co., 212 P.2d 397 (Idaho 1949). “contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied, except— Jfc Hi ifc * “(d) Services performed by an individual shall be deemed to be covered employment, irrespective of whether the common-law relationship of master and servant exists, unless and until it is shown to the…”
Corwin v. Sunshine Mining Co., 525 P.2d 993 (Idaho 1974). “§ 72-1312, 2 as he received actual and prospective wages or remuneration within the meaning of I.C. § 72-1328. 3 The location of the present case on the spectrum between “unemployed” and “self employed” is not so clear, because this case involves an unemployed worker who is…”
Emp. Sec. Agency v. Cent. Eureka Corp., 281 P.2d 665 (Idaho 1955). “Section 72-1328 I.C. provides in substance that the term “wages” as used in the Act covers only the first $3000 paid to an individual in covered employment by a covered employer during the calendar year.”
Dep't of Emp. v. Kasum Commc'ns, 544 P.2d 1142 (Idaho 1976). “” I.C. § 72-1328(a). Wages do not include the amounts paid to employees as allowance or reimbursement for reasonable and ordinary expenses actually incurred in the business of the employer and accounted for by the employee in an itemized statement to the employer, when the…”
— Idaho Code § 72-1328(1)(a) — 1 case
W. Home Transp., Inc. v. Idaho Dep't of Labor, 318 P.3d 940 (Idaho 2014). “” I.C. § 72-1328(1)(a). Unless the putative employer shows that an exemption applies, “[s]ervices performed by an individual for remuneration shall, for the purposes of the employment security law, be covered employment.”
— Idaho Code § 72-1328(a) — 4 cases
Vendx Mktg. Co. v. Dep't of Emp., 841 P.2d 420 (Idaho 1992). “" I.C. § 72-1328(a). [1] Services performed by an individual for remuneration come within the definition of covered employment: *426 (1) Unless it is shown: (A) That the worker has been and will continue to be free from control or direction in the performance of his work, both…”
Melody's Kitchen v. Harris, 757 P.2d 190 (Idaho 1988). “03; if remuneration paid to the claimant was wages for unemployment insurance purposes, according to Section 72-1328(a) of the Idaho Employment Security Law.”
Cahoon v. Emp. Sec. Agency, 351 P.2d 477 (Idaho 1960). “Appellant was, according to his own statements, performing services for which he was given credit upon an existing debt.”
Dep't of Emp. v. Kasum Commc'ns, 544 P.2d 1142 (Idaho 1976). “” I.C. § 72-1328(a). Wages do not include the amounts paid to employees as allowance or reimbursement for reasonable and ordinary expenses actually incurred in the business of the employer and accounted for by the employee in an itemized statement to the employer, when the…”
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