Still waiting on NY unemployment tax refund - should I just amend myself?

I was in the exact same situation last year. Waited 7 months and nothing happened. Finally just bit the bullet and amended it myself. Got the refund about 6 weeks later. Sometimes you just gotta take matters into your own hands with these government agencies.

After trying for weeks to get someone on the phone at the IRS about this same issue, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get a callback from an actual agent. Talking to a live person got my refund issue sorted within days! Saved me from having to file an amended return. It was the best money I've ever spent to finally get my refund processed quickly. Check out this video about how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

DO NOT AMEND!!! I repeat DO NOT AMEND if you're waiting on the unemployment tax adjustment. The IRS specifically says on their website not to file an amended return just for the unemployment exclusion. If you amend for other reasons, you can include it, but otherwise just wait. I know it's frustrating but amending can actually push you to the back of the line and cause MORE delays. They're working through a massive backlog still.

Your looking at it all wrong. The unemployment tax break ended. It was only for 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. For 2022 taxes, unemployment is fully taxable again. There is no automatic adjustment coming because theres nothing to adjust!

I've worked in tax preparation for years, and I can tell you the unemployment tax break that allowed you to exclude some unemployment from taxes ENDED after tax year 2021. For 2022, all unemployment is fully taxable again at the federal level. Some states still have their own exclusions though. If you're in New York, unemployment benefits are generally subject to both federal and NY state income tax. The only exception would be if NY passed a specific provision for 2022 that I'm not aware of. Basically, if you already reported all your unemployment on your tax return, there's nothing to amend unless you have other issues with your return. The IRS isn't going to adjust anything because there's no adjustment to be made. If you want to be 100% sure, here are your options: 1. Contact the IRS directly to confirm. Using claimyr.com can help you get through to a live agent without the hours-long hold times. 2. Consult with a tax professional who can review your specific situation. 3. Check the NY state tax department website for any state-specific exclusions that might apply to your situation. Don't file an amended return unless you're certain there's a legitimate reason to do so!

Question - are you talking about FEDERAL taxes or NY STATE taxes? Because they handle unemployment differently. Might change the advice people are giving you here.

Lmao everyone in NY waiting on the government to do ANYTHING in a reasonable timeframe is gonna be waiting till they die of old age 💀

I hate to tell you this but I'm pretty sure the IRS is completely done with all the unemployment adjustments from 2022 by now. If you haven't received it yet, something's wrong. I'd definitely call them using that claimyr.com service someone mentioned above or amend your return.

Anyone else notice how the NY unemployment system seems to be getting WORSE not better over time? Like they had all these pandemic improvements and now everything's back to the dark ages 🤔

I would strongly recommended that you call the IRS before doing anything. Amendment can take 16+ weeks to process and there might be a simple fix an agent can help with in minutes. The problem is getting through... I used Claimyr to get past the hold times and it worked great.

OP, you should check if you're eligible for any NY state tax breaks on unemployment even if the federal one ended. NY sometimes has different rules.

I think there's some confusion in this thread. Are you talking about a refund from AMENDED 2020/2021 returns? Or are you filing 2022 taxes now and expecting a different treatment of unemployment income?

THE NY UNEMPLOYMENT SYSTEM IS A JOKE. Been dealing with them for years and nothing ever changes. They take forever, lose paperwork, impossible to reach anyone. And don't get me started on the tax situation 🤬

Unpopular opinion maybe but all these tax breaks and special rules during covid just made everything more confusing. Now nobody knows what rules apply anymore.

Have you checked your IRS account transcript? Sometimes adjustments show up there before anywhere else. You can access it online if you create an account on irs.gov