PA UC payment less than my weekly benefit amount - tax deductions or error?

This is almost certainly due to tax withholding. The default is to withhold 10% federal tax from your payments. $425 minus 10% is $382.50. You probably didn't have withholding on your first two payments, but they've now processed your tax preference setting. You can check or change your tax withholding on your dashboard by logging into your PA UC account.

same thing happened 2 me last month. its taxes. you can change it on the website but its actually better 2 keep it so u dont owe a bunch at tax time. trust me. learned that the hard way lol

ARE YOU SURE you didn't report some part-time work? Because they will REDUCE your payment if you earned ANY money during the week you claimed. That happened to me and I was SO CONFUSED!!!! I had forgotten I worked one shift at my sister's shop! Check your weekly certification to see if you accidentally reported earnings.

There are three common reasons for a lower payment amount: 1. Federal tax withholding (10%) 2. Reported earnings for that week 3. Child support garnishment Based on your numbers ($425 to $382.50), this is exactly a 10% reduction, which strongly suggests federal tax withholding. You can verify this by checking your Payment History in your PA UC account - it will show the breakdown of deductions. If you want to change your tax withholding preference, go to your dashboard, select "Manage Tax Withholding" and make your selection. However, remember that if you don't withhold taxes now, you'll still owe them when you file your tax return next year.

When I was on unemployment last year they randomly started taking taxes out of my check too even though I never asked them to. I had to call to fix it which took FOREVER. I tried the website but kept getting errors.

hey this happened to me too actually my amount was different but the percentage was the same!! its definitely taxes like everyone is saying. you can change it on your dashboard but honestly I just keep it cuz tax time is painful enough without owing more lol

Does anyone know if you change the withholding back to NONE does it apply to the NEXT payment or does it take a couple weeks? Just curious because I'm thinking of changing mine too.

i just remembered that on mine the first 2 payments were full amount then tax started on the 3rd payment. exactly like yours. i think its just how their system works for some reason

I went through the exact same thing a few months ago! The timing is so weird - like why do they wait until the 3rd payment to start the tax withholding? It definitely caught me off guard too. I actually called them about it (after waiting on hold for 2 hours) and they confirmed it's just how their system processes new claims. The agent said something about giving people time to adjust their settings before the withholding kicks in, but honestly it just seems random. At least now you know what to expect going forward!

This exact same thing happened to me last month! I panicked thinking there was an error, but it turned out to be the 10% federal tax withholding kicking in. What's weird is that PA UC seems to have this delayed start for tax withholding - like they give you a couple payments at full amount first, then start the deductions. I kept the withholding in place because I didn't want to deal with a big tax bill later. You can see the breakdown in your payment history which will show exactly what was deducted. Glad you got it figured out!

Just wanted to add my experience since so many people are going through this same thing! I had the exact same confusion when my payment dropped from $390 to $351 on my third week. The 10% federal tax withholding definitely catches you off guard when it suddenly kicks in after a couple full payments. I actually tried to change it back to no withholding at first, but then I did the math and realized I'd owe around $1,500+ in taxes on my unemployment income at the end of the year. Decided to stick with the withholding - it's better to have smaller payments now than a big tax surprise later. For anyone wondering, you can see exactly what was deducted by going to "Payment History" in your PA UC account dashboard.

I'm dealing with this exact situation right now! My weekly benefit amount is $462 but I only received $415.80 this week. Based on everyone's responses here, it sounds like this is the 10% federal tax withholding that just kicked in (462 x 0.9 = 415.80). Like many of you, my first two payments were the full amount and then boom - sudden deduction on week 3. It's really frustrating that PA UC doesn't give you any heads up about when this will start! I was about to call them but after reading all these experiences, I think I'll just leave the withholding in place. Better to deal with smaller payments now than a huge tax bill next April. Thanks everyone for sharing - this thread saved me hours of phone frustration!