How does unemployment affect tax return - NYS Department of Labor benefits taxable?
I received unemployment benefits from NYS Department of Labor for about 6 months last year after being laid off from my retail job. Now I'm doing my taxes and I'm totally confused about how this affects my return. Do I have to pay taxes on the unemployment money I got? I think I received around $8,200 total. I don't remember getting any tax forms from NYS Department of Labor but maybe I missed something? This is my first time dealing with unemployment so I have no idea what to expect. Will this mess up my refund?
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Ella Harper
Yes, unemployment benefits are considered taxable income by both federal and state. NYS Department of Labor should have sent you a 1099-G form showing the total amount you received. Check your mail again or log into your my.ny.gov account - you can usually download a copy there. You'll need to report this on your tax return just like regular wages.
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Micah Franklin
•Oh no, I definitely didn't get a 1099-G form. Let me check my online account right now. Does this mean I'm going to owe a lot of money?
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PrinceJoe
I had taxes withheld from my unemployment payments when I was getting them. You can choose to have federal and state taxes taken out automatically when you file your weekly claims. If you didn't do that, then yeah you'll probably owe taxes on the full amount. For $8,200 it could be a decent chunk depending on your total income for the year.
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Brooklyn Knight
•wait you can have taxes taken out?? i got unemployment for 4 months and nobody told me this was an option...
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Owen Devar
Had the same issue last year trying to get my 1099-G from NYS Department of Labor. Their phone lines are always jammed and the website was giving me error messages. I ended up using claimyr.com to get through to an actual person who helped me get the form sorted out. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Way easier than spending hours on hold.
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Daniel Rivera
•How much did that cost though? I'm already stressed about owing taxes
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Owen Devar
•It was worth it to actually talk to someone who could pull up my account and email me the form same day. Better than the alternative of guessing at the numbers.
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Sophie Footman
The tax thing with unemployment is such BS. Like we're already struggling financially and then they want to tax the measly benefits too. I had to pay back like $600 when I did my taxes because I didn't know about the withholding option.
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Connor Rupert
•totally agree, seems backwards to tax money that's supposed to help people get back on their feet
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Ella Harper
One more thing - make sure the amount on your 1099-G matches what you actually received. Sometimes there are errors and you don't want to pay taxes on money you never got. Keep your records from NYS Department of Labor showing your weekly payment amounts to verify everything adds up correctly.
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