PA UC tax reporting question - claim from 2023 but payments in 2025 + reporting new work hours
Super confused about UC tax reporting and partial benefits. My situation is kinda weird: 1) I filed my initial claim back in Oct 2023, but because of verification issues, I didn't actually get APPROVED or receive ANY PAYMENTS until last week (Jan 2025)! For tax purposes, does this count for 2023 tax year or 2025? I'm trying to figure out if I need to worry about it for the taxes I'm about to file or next year. 2) Just started orientation at a new job this week (6 hours total). They told me I won't get my first paycheck for 3 weeks. When reporting to UC, do I report these hours for THIS week when I actually worked, or do I wait until I get paid? I don't want to mess anything up and get hit with an overpayment later. Thanks for any help! The UC handbook isn't clear on either of these situations.
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Natasha Volkova
For your tax question - UC benefits are taxed in the year they're PAID to you, not when you applied. So if you received the money in 2025, it counts for 2025 taxes (which you'll file in 2026). You should get a 1099-G form from PA UC in January 2026 showing the total benefits paid in 2025. For your work hours - you ALWAYS report based on when you WORKED, not when you got paid. So yes, report those 6 orientation hours for the week you actually did them, even though you won't get paid for weeks. UC cares about when you earned the money, not when it hits your bank account.
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CosmicCommander
•Thank you! That clears things up. So I'll report those 6 hours on this week's claim. One more question though - if the orientation was unpaid, do I still report it? The handbook just says to report "earnings" but technically I haven't earned anything if it's unpaid training, right?
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Javier Torres
ya for taxes its when u get the $$ not when u filed, i went thru this last time i was on UC
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Emma Davis
Wait are you sure about the work hours thing? I thought it was when you got PAID not when you WORKED??? Because I did some side gig work in December but didn't get the payment until January and my UC rep told me to report it when I got the money. Now I'm freaking out that I did it wrong!!!!
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Natasha Volkova
•No, the UC handbook is very clear about this. You report earnings for the week you PERFORM THE WORK, regardless of when you get paid. Here's directly from the PA UC website: "You must report all gross wages earned during the week for which you are filing, even if you have not yet been paid for the work." If you've been reporting differently, you might want to contact UC to correct it before they catch it as an overpayment.
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Malik Johnson
Just so you know, getting through to PA UC to fix issues like this can be almost impossible right now. I tried for 3 weeks straight making 20+ calls daily and couldn't get through. Finally used Claimyr.com and got connected to a rep in about 30 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2 Saved me so much stress when I needed to ask questions about my back payments. Just sharing because fixing tax reporting mistakes is definitely something you want to handle ASAP.
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Javier Torres
•did that really work? ive been trying to talk to someone 4 almost 2 weeks
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Isabella Ferreira
THE WHOLE PA UC SYSTEM IS A JOKE!!!! I had a similar situation last year - claim from December but payments in January and they STILL haven't corrected my tax forms even after THREE CALLS!!! Now the IRS is after me saying I underreported income but it's PA UC's fault! They issued the 1099-G for the wrong year. GOOD LUCK getting anyone to fix anything in this broken system!!!!
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Ravi Sharma
•Sorry that happened to you. Tax stuff is so stressful. Hope OP has better luck!
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NebulaNomad
My sister works in accounting and she says that for income tax purposes it's always about when you receive the money, not when you earned it. That's why your W2 shows what was paid to you during the calendar year. So for UC benefits, it would be when you actually received the payments. But for reporting work to UC while collecting benefits, that's different - you report when you work even if not paid yet. It's confusing because they're different systems with different rules!
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CosmicCommander
•This makes so much sense! Thank you for explaining the difference. So for my taxes, I'll only worry about these UC payments for next year's tax filing. And I'll make sure to report my orientation hours this week even though I'm not getting paid yet. Appreciate everyone's help!
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