Will I get a tax refund if I was on NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?
I was unemployed for about 7 months last year and collected UI benefits through NYS Department of Labor. Now I'm doing my taxes and wondering if I'll actually get a refund or if I'll owe money? I had taxes withheld from my weekly claims but I'm not sure if it was enough. My total benefits were around $14,500 for the year. Has anyone been in this situation before? Did you end up getting a refund or owing taxes?
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Freya Johansen
It depends on several factors - your total income for the year, filing status, and how much tax was withheld from your UI benefits. NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits are fully taxable at both federal and state levels. If you elected to have 10% federal tax withheld from your weekly claims, that might not be enough depending on your tax bracket. You should have received a 1099-G form from NYS Department of Labor showing your total benefits and taxes withheld.
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CosmosCaptain
•I did get the 1099-G form. It shows $1,450 in federal taxes withheld. I was single with no dependents and didn't have any other income besides unemployment.
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Omar Fawzi
I was in almost the exact same situation last year - collected about $16k in unemployment and had the 10% withheld. I ended up owing about $800 more in federal taxes because unemployment puts you in a higher bracket than you might expect. The withholding rate isn't always sufficient.
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CosmosCaptain
•Oh no, that's what I was worried about! Did you have to pay penalties for underpayment or just the extra tax?
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Omar Fawzi
•Just the extra tax, no penalties since I had taxes withheld throughout the year. But definitely budget for potentially owing money rather than expecting a refund.
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Chloe Wilson
Quick tip - if you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor about your 1099-G or need to verify your benefit amounts, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Was way easier than spending hours on hold trying to get through on my own.
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Diego Mendoza
•Interesting, never heard of that service. Did they charge you a lot to help with the call?
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Chloe Wilson
•They focus on the value of actually reaching someone rather than cost. For me it was worth it since I needed to resolve a discrepancy on my 1099-G before filing taxes.
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Anastasia Romanov
ugh the whole tax situation with unemployment is such a mess!! I got unemployment too and I'm terrified about filing. Why doesn't NYS Department of Labor just withhold the right amount automatically instead of making us guess?? This system is so broken.
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Freya Johansen
•The 10% withholding option is just an estimate - everyone's tax situation is different based on other income, deductions, filing status, etc. It's impossible for them to know your exact tax liability.
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StellarSurfer
yeah i had unemployment last year and got a small refund actually. but i think it was because i had other tax credits that helped offset things. really depends on your whole tax picture not just the unemployment part
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