How much is unemployment taxed - NYS Department of Labor benefits tax questions
I'm getting ready to file my taxes and realized I have no idea how much tax I owe on my unemployment benefits from last year. I collected about $8,200 total from NYS Department of Labor and didn't have any taxes withheld because I needed every penny to pay rent. Now I'm worried I'm going to owe a huge amount. Does anyone know what the tax rate is on unemployment? I'm freaking out that I might owe thousands that I don't have.
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Dylan Campbell
Unemployment benefits are taxed as regular income at your normal tax rate, not a special rate. So if you're in the 12% federal bracket, that's what you'll pay on the $8,200. NYS also taxes unemployment benefits. You should have received a 1099-G form from NYS Department of Labor showing the total amount you received.
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NeonNova
•I never got a 1099-G form! How do I get one? And what's the NY state rate on unemployment?
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Sofia Hernandez
You can download your 1099-G from the my.ny.gov website where you file your weekly claims. Log into your NYS Department of Labor account and look for tax documents. For 2024, if you made under $40,000 total including unemployment, you're probably looking at 12% federal plus around 4% NY state tax on the unemployment portion.
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Dmitry Kuznetsov
•this is why i always have them take out the maximum 10% when i file my weekly claims, learned that lesson the hard way
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Ava Thompson
ugh same boat here, collected unemployment for 6 months and didnt withhold anything. my tax guy said i owe like $1800 between federal and state. the system is rigged - they make you pay taxes on money they gave you because you lost your job!
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Dylan Campbell
•I understand the frustration, but unemployment benefits have always been taxable income. The good news is you can set up a payment plan with the IRS if you can't pay it all at once.
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Miguel Ramos
If you're having trouble getting your 1099-G or need to talk to someone about your unemployment tax situation, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual NYS Department of Labor agent when I couldn't access my account. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helped me get my tax documents sorted out quickly.
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NeonNova
•Thanks, I'll check that out. The phone lines are always busy when I try to call NYS Department of Labor directly.
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Zainab Ibrahim
Just remember you can also deduct any job search expenses you had while collecting unemployment - gas for interviews, resume printing, etc. Won't offset much but every little bit helps when you're dealing with an unexpected tax bill.
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