How much is the federal unemployment tax rate affecting my NYS Department of Labor benefits?
I'm trying to understand how the federal unemployment tax impacts my weekly benefit amount from NYS Department of Labor. I've been receiving $420 per week for the past 6 weeks and just realized there might be federal taxes taken out? My employer used to handle all this stuff automatically but now I'm confused about what I owe. Do I need to have taxes withheld from my unemployment payments or can I pay at the end of the year? The my.ny.gov website mentions something about voluntary withholding but I can't figure out the actual rate.
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Oliver Zimmermann
Federal unemployment benefits are taxable income, but NYS Department of Labor doesn't automatically withhold federal taxes unless you request it. You can have 10% withheld voluntarily by updating your payment preferences in your my.ny.gov account. Go to 'Manage Tax Withholding' in your claimant portal and select the federal withholding option.
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Amina Toure
•Thanks! So if I don't do the voluntary withholding, I'll just owe it all at tax time? That could be a big chunk of money.
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Natasha Volkova
yeah i made this mistake last year and owed like $800 when i filed my taxes... definitely do the withholding if you can afford the smaller weekly amount
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Javier Torres
The federal rate for unemployment tax withholding is 10% if you elect it through NYS Department of Labor. So on $420 weekly that would be $42 withheld, leaving you $378. You'll get a 1099-G form in January showing your total benefits received for the year. Without withholding, you'll need to make quarterly estimated payments or pay the full amount when filing your return.
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Emma Davis
•This is exactly what I needed to know. Going to set up the withholding today before I forget.
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CosmicCaptain
I've been trying to reach NYS Department of Labor for weeks about this same issue but their phone lines are always busy. Has anyone found a way to actually talk to someone about tax withholding questions? I keep getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours.
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Malik Johnson
•I had the same problem until I found claimyr.com - they help you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents by phone. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Used it last month and got connected within 15 minutes to resolve my withholding setup.
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CosmicCaptain
•That sounds too good to be true but I'm desperate at this point. Going to check it out, thanks!
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Isabella Ferreira
The whole system is ridiculous. Why can't they just automatically withhold like a regular paycheck? Now I have to worry about owing thousands come April.
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