PA UC claim pending since October 2024 - tax question for delayed payments

The payments will be counted for the tax year in which you RECEIVE them, not when you earned/claimed them. So if your backpay for October-December comes in January 2025, it counts as 2025 income for tax purposes. PA UC will issue you a 1099-G form in January 2026 showing all benefits paid during 2025. Hope your claim gets resolved soon!

Thank you! That's what I was thinking but wanted to make sure. Do you know if there's anything I can do to speed up my pending claim? It's been in limbo for so long and I really need those payments.

same thing happend to me last yr. pending for 3 months!! but when i finally got paid they put it all in one lump sum. and yea it goes on taxes for when u actually get paid not when u filed for it

Thanks for sharing your experience! Did they ever explain why your claim was pending for so long? Did you do anything special to get it moving?

I think the previous answers are WRONG!! I went through this exact situation in 2023. The UC office told me unemployment benefits are taxable in the year you were ELIGIBLE for them, not when you received them. So October-December would be 2024 taxes, even if paid in 2025. Call and check with them directly instead of listening to random internet people!!

That's incorrect. The IRS is very clear that unemployment compensation is taxable in the year received. The 1099-G will reflect the year the payment was issued, not when the weeks were claimed. You can verify this on the IRS website or the PA UC tax information page.

Well that's not what they told me! The PA system is so confusing. Maybe different agents give different information. No wonder everyone's always confused.

Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to an agent? I had a similar situation with my claim stuck in pending and couldn't get past the busy signals. I used claimyr.com and they got me connected to an agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2. The agent was able to see that my claim had an identity verification issue that needed to be cleared up. Once I talked to someone, my claim was resolved within a week.

I hadn't heard of that service before. I'll check it out because I'm going crazy trying to get through on the phone. Did they tell you why your claim was stuck in pending status?

To address your original question - it's definitely based on when you RECEIVE the money, not when you earned it. This is clearly stated in IRS Publication 525. But more importantly, you need to figure out why your claim is pending for so long. There's probably an open issue that needs to be resolved. Common reasons include:\n\n1. Identity verification issues\n2. Employer dispute on reason for separation\n3. Missing work search activities\n4. Wage investigation\n\nYou really need to reach an agent to find out what's holding things up. Once resolved, they'll process those back weeks relatively quickly.

Thank you for the detailed response! I've been doing my work search activities religiously and uploading them each week. My employer shouldn't be disputing anything since the whole crew was laid off due to the project ending. I'm guessing it might be identity verification, but with no way to check online and not being able to reach anyone by phone, I'm just stuck in limbo.

not to hijack ur thread but im in almost the same boat!!! applied in september, still pending, no money at all. been living off savings and credit cards. the system is BROKEN!!! i heard they're severely understaffed but thats not our problem!!! we paid into this system!!!

the trick is to call right when they open at 8am. thats how i finally got thru. but you gota keep calling like 50 times sometimes

ive tried that!!! called 87 times in one morning. either busy signal or it hangs up on me. this is ridiculous!

Just to follow up - you should continue filing your weekly claims even while your initial claim is pending. This way, once they resolve whatever issue is holding things up, you'll get paid for all those weeks at once. If you stop filing weekly claims, you might not get backpay for those weeks you missed filing.

Yes, I've been filing every week religiously! I'm just worried because my financial situation is getting dire. Thanks for the confirmation about the tax situation - at least I can plan accordingly now.

After I got through to PA UC using Claimyr, the agent told me there was an

I'm definitely going to try that service tomorrow. It's crazy that we have to use a third-party service just to talk to someone at the unemployment office, but at this point I'm desperate. I'll update here if I make any progress.

Just a heads up, when you finally get your backpay, they'll withhold taxes if you elected for that when you filed. Make sure you're prepared for that - the amount might be less than you're expecting if you chose to have taxes withheld.

Good point. I did elect to have taxes withheld when I applied, so I'm expecting about 10% less than the full amount. I just hope something happens soon.