DEO payment suddenly dropped from $600 to $540 weekly - what's going on?
I've been on unemployment for about a month now after my company downsized our entire department. At first, everything seemed fine - my weekly benefit amount showed $600 and I received that amount for the first two weeks. But when I checked my account yesterday, this week's payment was only $540! I double-checked all my claim information and nothing has changed on my end. I didn't report any work income and I completed all my work searches correctly. Has anyone else experienced their benefit amount suddenly dropping like this? Did I miss something about benefit reductions after a certain period? I'm freaking out a bit because I budgeted based on the $600 amount and now I'm short $60 for no apparent reason.
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Statiia Aarssizan
This happened to me last month!!! My payment dropped by exactly $75 after the third week. When I finally got through to DEO (took 3 days of calling nonstop), they said it was because of federal tax withholding that I apparently agreed to when filing. Check your CONNECT account under "Payment Method & Tax Withholding" - you might have accidentally selected to have taxes withheld. It's 10% off the top.
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Ezra Beard
•Oh my god, I think that's exactly what happened! I remember checking some boxes during the application but didn't realize what it meant. Is there a way to change it back? I'd rather handle the taxes myself next year.
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Reginald Blackwell
To change your tax withholding status, log into CONNECT, go to the left menu and click "View and Maintain Account Information," then select "Payment Method and Tax Withholding Options." You can update your preference there to stop the withholding. But be aware this means you'll owe those taxes when you file next year. Also, the change won't affect payments that have already been processed, only future ones.
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Ezra Beard
•Thank you so much for the detailed instructions! I'm going to do this right now. I'd rather get the full amount and set aside money for taxes myself.
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Aria Khan
same thing happened to me but it was because i had child support garnishment. do you have any garnishments? might not be taxes
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Ezra Beard
•No garnishments that I know of! I'm pretty sure it's the tax thing based on what others have said. It's exactly 10% less than what I was getting.
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Everett Tutum
My sister had this happen and it was because she checked the wrong box during application. You probably selected yes to federal tax withholding. Just call DEO in the morning and they can fix it for you. The phone lines open at 7:30am if you want to try to beat the rush.
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Sunny Wang
•Good luck with that. I've been trying to reach DEO for 2 weeks about my adjudication issue and can't get through. The phone system is completely broken - either busy signals or it hangs up on you after the automated messages. If you really need to talk to someone, I used a service called Claimyr last week and got through to an agent in about 30 minutes instead of waiting for days. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/UzW_hbUy-ss?si=zORd51jeq1GX5Ldj. Saved me a ton of frustration after spending days trying to get through myself.
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Hugh Intensity
I went through EXACTLY this in January. It's definitely the tax withholding. When I logged into CONNECT and went to the payment settings, it showed 10% federal tax withholding was activated. I unchecked it and started getting my full amount again the next week. Just remember you'll owe taxes on all your benefits when tax time comes around!
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Ezra Beard
•Thanks for confirming! I just checked my account and yep, the tax withholding was selected. I've changed it now. Hopefully next week I'll get the full amount again. Dealing with DEO has been one headache after another!
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Effie Alexander
Is anybody else confused about why the DEO system defaults to withholding taxes without making it super clear?? I swear they design these systems to be as confusing as possible!!! I remember when I applied last year, I had to go through like 50 screens and probably missed half the important stuff because it was buried in walls of text. The whole system needs to be redesigned by people who actually UNDERSTAND USER EXPERIENCE.
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Everett Tutum
•Totally agree! The CONNECT system feels like it was designed in 1995 and never updated. It took me 3 tries just to complete my application because it kept timing out. Then half the instructions contradict themselves. No wonder people get so frustrated!
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Reginald Blackwell
Just to add some additional information: if you're receiving $600 weekly, that means your WBA (Weekly Benefit Amount) is on the higher end of Florida's scale. The maximum is $615 in 2025. If you're having 10% withheld for federal taxes, that would be $60, leaving you with $540. This is normal and actually might save you from a surprise tax bill later. But if you prefer to manage your tax obligations separately, changing the withholding setting as I mentioned earlier is perfectly fine. Just make sure you're setting aside around 10-15% of your benefits for taxes.
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Ezra Beard
•This is really helpful context, thank you! Yes, I was working as a senior project manager before the layoff, so my income qualified me for close to the maximum. I didn't realize Florida's max was $615 now - that explains why I wasn't getting the exact maximum. I'll definitely set aside money for taxes since I switched off the withholding.
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Aria Khan
did u figure it out? was it the tax thing?
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Ezra Beard
•Yes! It was definitely the tax withholding. I went into my account settings and unchecked that option. Thanks everyone for the help! This forum has been way more useful than trying to contact DEO directly.
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