Do I need to pay taxes on NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?
I've been collecting unemployment for about 4 months now and just realized I might owe taxes on it. I didn't have any taxes withheld from my weekly payments because I needed every dollar I could get. Now I'm worried I'm going to owe a huge amount when I file my return. Is unemployment taxable and should I have been withholding taxes this whole time? I'm really stressed about this.
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Lena Kowalski
Yes, unemployment benefits from NYS Department of Labor are considered taxable income by both the IRS and New York State. You should have received a 1099-G form showing the total amount you received. You can still request tax withholding on future payments by logging into your my.ny.gov account and updating your payment preferences.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•Oh no, I never got a 1099-G form. How do I get one? And can I really change the withholding now or is it too late?
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DeShawn Washington
I made the same mistake last year! Unemployment is definitely taxable. The 1099-G will be mailed to you by January 31st, but you can also access it online through your NYS Department of Labor account. I ended up owing about $800 on $6000 in benefits. Now I always have 10% withheld automatically.
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Mei-Ling Chen
•Wait, so if I got $12000 in unemployment I might owe like $1600 in taxes? That's terrifying...
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DeShawn Washington
•It depends on your total income for the year and your tax bracket, but yeah it could be around that much. Better to start setting aside money now if you can.
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Sofía Rodríguez
this is why the system is broken, they should automatically withhold taxes like regular jobs do!! now we're all gonna get hit with surprise tax bills
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Lena Kowalski
•Actually, you can choose to have taxes withheld when you first file your claim or change it later. It's optional because some people prefer to handle their own tax planning.
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Aiden O'Connor
If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor to set up tax withholding on your account, I had success using claimyr.com recently. They helped me get through to an actual agent who could update my withholding preferences right away. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call myself.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•Is that service legit? I've been trying to call NYS Department of Labor for weeks to update my account settings but keep getting disconnected.
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Aiden O'Connor
•Yeah it worked for me. They basically navigate the phone system and get you connected to a real person at NYS Department of Labor. Much easier than dealing with the busy signals and hold times yourself.
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Zoe Papadopoulos
Same boat here. Got unemployment for 6 months last year and totally forgot about taxes. Had to pay $900 extra when I filed. This year I'm having 15% withheld just to be safe.
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Ravi Choudhury
I'm in a similar situation and just found out about this tax issue. For those asking about getting the 1099-G form, you can access it online through the NYS Department of Labor website under "View & Print Your 1099-G" section. Also, I called them last week and they said you can request tax withholding at any time during your claim - it doesn't just apply to future payments, you can also make estimated quarterly payments to cover what you've already received. Don't panic, there are options to handle this!
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