EDD reporting requirements for gig work - $600 threshold confusion

You MUST report ALL earnings to EDD when certifying, regardless of tax reporting requirements. The $600 threshold (actually $400 for self-employment) is about federal tax filing requirements, not unemployment reporting. Every dollar you earn from gig work needs to be reported when you certify for unemployment. EDD will then calculate your partial benefit amount based on your reported earnings. Don't confuse tax rules with certification requirements or you could end up with an overpayment notice later.

Oh shoot, thank you for clearing that up! I definitely don't want an overpayment situation. So even if I make like $50 in a day from deliveries, I need to report that? Does EDD count the amount before or after expenses like gas?

I went through this EXACT situation last year!!! The $600 thing you're talking about is probably the 1099-K threshold, which changed recently (used to be $600, now back to $20,000 for federal but CA still uses $600). That's just about whether the app company sends you a tax form. Has NOTHING to do with what you report to EDD. \n\nYou absolutely NEED to report every dollar you earn when certifying. EDD considers your GROSS earnings (before expenses, before app fees). If you don't report everything, they'll find out eventually through tax records matching and you'll have to pay it all back plus penalties. Don't risk it!!!

Thanks for sharing your experience! That makes sense about the 1099-K thing. So basically the apps might not send me tax forms for small amounts, but I still need to track and report everything to EDD. I'll definitely report all earnings, even if it means smaller UI payments.

quick question - are you reporting net or gross from the gig work? after gas and everything i barely break even some days

For EDD certification purposes, you must report your GROSS earnings (before any expenses). EDD does not allow you to deduct expenses from your reported income when certifying, even though you can deduct those expenses on your taxes. It's one of the unfortunate aspects of gig work while on unemployment.

Word of warning: I didn't report some of my DoorDash income last year thinking it wasn't enough to matter, and EDD hit me with a disqualification, overpayment notice AND a 30% penalty! Had to go through the whole appeal process which was a nightmare. They check eventually through tax records and employer reporting. Not worth the stress, just report everything and take the partial payment.

Wow, that sounds awful! Definitely not going to risk that. Did you have to pay back all your benefits or just the weeks you didn't report correctly?

I had to pay back just the weeks I underreported, but with the penalty added it was still brutal. The worst part was they stopped all my payments during the investigation. Took almost 3 months to resolve. Definitely don't recommend.

the 600$ thing is for taxes from the irs not for edd. u gotta report everything to edd but u might not need to file taxes on small amounts. its confusing i know

Not quite right. The $600 was a 1099-K reporting threshold, but self-employed people still need to report all income to IRS if they make over $400 in a year, even if they don't get a 1099. Tax reporting and EDD reporting are completely separate systems.

I've been trying to contact EDD for weeks about this exact situation with my Uber earnings and can't get through to anyone! Always get the \

Thanks for the tip about Claimyr. If I need to talk to a rep I'll check it out. Did they explain how they calculate the partial benefits with gig work? Like if I report $200 in DoorDash earnings, do they just subtract that from my weekly benefit amount?

Yes, they explained it's basically the first $25 (or 25% of your earnings, whichever is higher) doesn't count against you. Then the rest gets subtracted from your weekly benefit amount. So if your weekly benefit is $450 and you earn $200, they'd subtract $175 (ignoring the first $25), leaving you with a $275 payment plus your gig earnings - so $475 total for the week.

Don't listen to anyone telling you not to report income! I work part-time at Amazon while on partial unemployment and I report EVERYTHING. The rule is actually not bad - the first $25 or 25% of your earnings (whichever is greater) doesn't count against your weekly benefit amount. Then they subtract the rest from your weekly benefit. So you always end up with more money by working part-time + getting partial unemployment than just unemployment alone.\n\nAnd yes, EDD is totally different from tax reporting. Don't confuse the two systems or you'll create problems for yourself.

Thanks for explaining how the partial benefits work! That actually sounds better than I thought. So it's definitely worth picking up gig work even if it reduces my benefits some. I'll be super careful about reporting accurately.

but how do they know how much u make from doordash? its not like a regular job where the employer reports it right?

They may not know immediately, but EDD routinely cross-references tax records after the fact. When you file your taxes and report your self-employment income, that data eventually gets matched against your unemployment certifications. If they find a discrepancy, you'll get hit with an overpayment notice, possible penalties, and potential disqualification from future benefits. It's not worth the risk.

One more IMPORTANT thing - make sure you're keeping track of your miles and expenses for tax purposes! Even though you report gross earnings to EDD, you can deduct business expenses on your taxes. Get a mileage tracking app ASAP if you haven't already. You'll thank yourself at tax time when you can deduct $0.65+ per mile driven for deliveries.

Thanks for the reminder! I've been tracking miles in a notebook but a dedicated app would be smarter. Any recommendations for good apps? And do I track miles from my house to delivery areas or just while actively delivering?

I use Stride - it's free and easy. You can track miles from when you leave home if your home is your principal place of business (which for most gig workers it is). So basically when you turn on the app and start accepting orders, start tracking miles until you're done for the day and heading home.

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation about 6 months ago. I was doing Instacart while on unemployment and made the mistake of not reporting my first week's earnings because I only made $43 and thought it was too small to matter. Big mistake! When I called EDD (after waiting 2+ hours), the rep told me I needed to report literally every dollar, even $5. She said the system is designed to always benefit you more when you work + collect partial unemployment vs just collecting full unemployment, so there's never a reason to hide earnings. The key thing that helped me was setting up a simple spreadsheet to track daily earnings from the gig apps, then just add it up for each certification period. Makes it super easy to report accurately and you have records if EDD ever asks questions later.

As someone who just went through this exact situation last month, I can confirm everything everyone's saying about reporting ALL earnings to EDD. I was doing UberEats while on unemployment and initially got confused by the same $600 thing you mentioned. Turns out that's just about when companies are required to send you tax forms - has nothing to do with EDD reporting requirements. The good news is that the partial benefit calculation actually works in your favor! Like others mentioned, you get to keep the first $25 or 25% of your earnings (whichever is higher) without it affecting your benefits. So if you make $100 from gig work, only $75 gets deducted from your weekly benefit amount. You end up with more money overall than just staying on full unemployment. My advice: keep detailed daily records of every dollar earned from gig work. I use a simple phone note that I update after each shift, then transfer to my EDD certification. Better to over-report than under-report - EDD will eventually catch discrepancies through tax record matching and the penalties are brutal. Stay compliant and you'll be fine!

Just want to echo what everyone else is saying - definitely report ALL gig earnings to EDD, even small amounts! I made this mistake early on thinking amounts under $50 didn't matter, but EDD eventually caught it through their cross-referencing system and I had to deal with an overpayment notice. Not fun. One thing that really helped me was setting up automatic tracking. I use the Everlance app (similar to Stride that someone mentioned) which not only tracks miles but also lets you categorize earnings by platform. At the end of each week, I just pull up the total and report it during certification. Takes the guesswork out of it. Also, don't stress too much about the benefit reduction - the partial benefit formula is actually pretty generous. Like others said, you'll always come out ahead financially by working + getting partial benefits vs just full unemployment. Plus it keeps you active in the gig economy which can be good experience for your resume. Good luck with the job search!

I've been in this exact situation for the past few months - doing gig work while on partial unemployment after my tech job got eliminated. The confusion about the $600 threshold is super common! That number comes up in so many different contexts (1099-K thresholds, tax filing requirements, etc.) but has ZERO to do with EDD reporting. Here's what I learned the hard way: you absolutely MUST report every single dollar you earn from gig work when certifying, even if it's just $10. EDD doesn't care about tax reporting thresholds - they want to know about ALL income so they can calculate your partial benefits correctly. The silver lining is that the partial benefit calculation actually works in your favor. You get to keep the first $25 or 25% of your weekly earnings (whichever is higher) without any reduction to your UI benefits. So if you make $200 from DoorDash, you'd keep the first $50 (25% of $200), and only have $150 deducted from your weekly benefit amount. You end up with more money than just staying on full unemployment. My biggest tip: start tracking everything NOW in a simple spreadsheet or app. I wish I had been more organized from day one. Stay compliant and you'll avoid the horror stories others have shared about overpayments and penalties. Good luck with both the gig work and job search!

I went through this same confusion when I started doing Grubhub while on unemployment! The $600 thing you're thinking of is definitely about tax form reporting (1099-K), not EDD certification. I made the mistake of thinking they were the same thing initially. Here's what I learned: EDD requires you to report EVERY dollar you earn, period. Even if you only make $15 in a day, report it. The good news is the partial benefit formula actually makes it worth your while - you get to keep 25% of your earnings (or $25, whichever is higher) without any reduction to your UI benefits. Pro tip that saved me tons of headaches: I created a simple Google Sheet with columns for Date, Platform (DoorDash/Uber/etc), Gross Earnings, and Miles Driven. After each shift, I just quickly add the numbers. When it's time to certify, I just sum up the week's earnings and report the total. Takes 30 seconds and keeps me compliant. Also keep tracking those miles for tax deductions! You'll thank yourself later when you can write off $0.655 per business mile on your taxes. The mileage deduction alone can be huge for gig workers. Don't stress about the benefit reduction - you'll always come out ahead financially by working + partial benefits versus just full unemployment. Plus it keeps you active while job hunting. You got this!

I just want to add my voice to everyone else here - you absolutely MUST report all gig work earnings to EDD, no matter how small! I learned this lesson the expensive way when I didn't report about $80 in Postmates earnings thinking it was "too little to matter." EDD caught it months later during their routine cross-checking and hit me with an overpayment notice plus penalties. The $600 threshold you're thinking of is completely separate - that's just about when gig companies are required to send you tax documents (1099-K forms). It has nothing to do with what you need to report to EDD for unemployment certification. Here's what helped me get organized: I started using a simple notes app on my phone to track daily earnings from each platform. At the end of each day, I just quickly jot down "DoorDash: $45, UberEats: $32" or whatever. Then when it's certification time, I add up the week's total and report it. Super simple but keeps me compliant. Don't worry about the benefit reduction - the partial payment formula is actually pretty fair. You keep the first $25 or 25% of your earnings (whichever is higher) without any deduction from your UI benefits. So you'll always end up with more money by working + getting partial benefits than just sitting on full unemployment. Stay compliant, keep good records, and you'll be fine! The peace of mind is worth way more than trying to hide small amounts of income.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! Just got laid off from my retail job and started doing Instacart to help cover expenses while collecting unemployment. The whole $600 thing had me confused too - I kept seeing that number everywhere and wasn't sure if it applied to EDD reporting. Reading through everyone's experiences here is super helpful and honestly a bit scary! The stories about overpayment notices and penalties are making me realize I need to be way more careful about tracking everything. I've been kind of sloppy about it so far, just estimating my daily earnings. I'm definitely going to start using one of those tracking systems people mentioned - probably the Google Sheet idea with daily entries. Better to be over-organized than deal with EDD problems later. And it sounds like even though reporting everything might reduce my benefits some, I'll still come out ahead financially compared to just staying on full unemployment. Thanks everyone for being so honest about your mistakes and what you learned. This thread is going to save me from making some expensive errors! Now I just need to go back and figure out exactly what I made in my first week of gig work so I can report it correctly on my next certification.

Just wanted to chime in as someone who's been doing gig work while on partial unemployment for about 4 months now. All the advice here is spot-on - you absolutely MUST report every dollar to EDD, even tiny amounts. The $600 thing that confused you is about 1099-K tax forms from the platforms, not EDD reporting requirements. I made the same mistake early on thinking small daily earnings didn't matter, but EDD will eventually catch unreported income through tax record matching. Trust me, the overpayment penalties aren't worth trying to hide anything. The partial benefit calculation actually works great though! You keep the first $25 or 25% of weekly earnings (whichever is higher) without any benefit reduction. So if you make $120 from DoorDash, you'd keep the first $30 (25%) and only have $90 deducted from your UI payment. You end up with more total income than just staying on full unemployment. My system: I use a simple phone note to track daily earnings by platform, then sum it up each week for certification. Takes maybe 2 minutes total per day and keeps me compliant. Also definitely track your miles - at $0.67/mile for 2024, the tax deduction adds up fast. Stay honest with reporting and you'll be fine! The system actually encourages working while on unemployment, so there's no reason to risk penalties by hiding income.