NY unemployment took extra money out for taxes that should have been waived during COVID?

Yep, this happened to me too! I had taxes taken out every week and they still came after me for another $625. Makes absolutely no sense. The whole system is broken and nobody there seems to know how their own tax withholding works. I spent 3 weeks calling the ny unemployment office every single day just to get hung up on or disconnected 🤬

After struggling to reach anyone at ny unemployment for weeks, I finally found a service that got me through to an actual agent. I used claimyr.com and they handled the waiting for me and connected me with a live person who fixed my tax withholding issue in minutes. Talking to a real human got my problem solved and saved me hundreds. Definitely worth checking out their site: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

The whole COVID tax waiver thing was super confusing. From what I understand, there was a federal tax break on unemployment benefits for 2020 (up to $10,200 could be tax-free), but that didnt continue into 2021 or 2022. And NY State never adopted the waiver at all - they still taxed all unemployment benefits even during 2020. So if you got benefits in 2022, all of it was fully taxable both federally and state 😕

I worked for the unemployment office during covid (quit cuz it was a shitshow lol). They absolutely mess up the withholding ALL THE TIME. Like their system literally cannot handle it correctly. What probably happened is they withheld federal but not state, or witheld at the wrong rate. You need to talk to someone who can actually look at your account history.

Check your 1099-G form from last year carefully! I had the same issue and turns out the form showed they actually DID withhold federal taxes but NOT state taxes even though I selected both. When I finally got through to an agent, they admitted it was a system glitch that affected thousands of claims during a specific month. They're taking the extra $$ now to make up for their mistake 😡

LISTEN UP PEOPLE cuz I'm gonna save y'all some time. I spent 15 years working in tax accounting and here's what's happening: 1. The COVID unemployment tax break was ONLY for 2020 tax year, and ONLY for federal taxes, and ONLY for the first $10,200. NY State never implemented it. 2. The standard withholding rate for unemployment is usually only 10% federal and 2.5-4% state - which is LESS than what most people actually owe. This means even if you had withholding, you likely still owe more. 3. What's happening to OP is a "true-up" where they're collecting additional taxes based on your actual tax liability from last year. 4. To fix this: You NEED to talk to a specialized tax rep at NYSDOL, not just any agent. Regular agents can't help with this. 5. I personally recommend using claimyr.com to get through the phone maze - it was the only way I could actually reach someone who knew what they were doing. 6. Once you talk to someone, request a "withholding audit" on your account. This forces them to review what you selected vs what was actually withheld. 7. If they made a mistake, they MUST refund you and can't legally collect the difference. Hope this helps someone avoid the three weeks of hell I went through sorting this out!

i swear they do this on purpose... make the system so complicated that people just give up and pay whatever they say we owe. classic government BS

Dude check your bank statements! I had the exact same thing happen and when I went back and looked at my deposits, the amounts didnt match what they claimed was withheld for taxes. Turns out they SAID they were withholding but they actually weren't taking enough out. Keep all your records!!

my freind works at the unemployment office and said their computer system is from like the 1980s and constantly glitches with tax withholdings especiialy during covid when they were overloaded. they mite have marked you as withholidng taxes but the system didnt actually do it.

Don't let them get away with this! I fought a similar issue last year and won. You need to get a copy of your original unemployment application showing you selected tax withholding, then get your bank statements showing the deposits, and calculate what was actually withheld. Then file a formal dispute with the unemployment office. It's a pain but I got back over $900 they wrongfully took from me.

Bro the whole NY unemployment system is a scam. They're literally stealing from ppl at this point 💯

Random but important tip: If you do manage to get through to someone, ask them to put a note on your account about the withholding issue. This creates a paper trail they can't ignore later if they try to come after you for more $$$