PA UC taxes - Do I owe PA state tax if federal was already withheld?

Yes, you definitely owe PA state tax on unemployment compensation. Pennsylvania taxes UC benefits at 3.07% (the flat state income tax rate). Unlike federal taxes, PA doesn't give you the option to have state taxes withheld from your payments, which is why you're stuck in this situation. You need to manually enter your 1099-G income - what tax software are you using? There should be a section for additional income or miscellaneous income where you can add this. If you don't report it, you'll likely get a notice from PA later asking for the unpaid taxes plus interest.

i went thru this last yr. the state part is tricky, its under miscelaneous income in most software. u need to enter the total UC amount from ur 1099G. pa takes 3.07% not 10% tho, ur aunt musta had a lot of benefits!

The same thing happened to me!! My tax guy told me that PA doesn't withhold taxes automatically and I ended up with a shock bill. Your aunt probably had other income too that made her bill that high because PA tax is only 3.07%. One thing - make sure you check if you qualify for Tax Forgiveness in PA. Depending on your total income and dependents, you might get some or all of that state tax back!!!

This confused me too when I filed recently! For TurboTax, you need to go to the Income section, then look for "Less Common Income" and there should be an option for state-specific income. That's where you can enter unemployment for PA purposes. If you already submitted without including it, you'll need to file an amended return with PA. Don't ignore it - they WILL catch up with you because they receive a copy of your 1099-G directly.

ur aunt is WRONG about the 10%!!! PA only charges 3.07% flat tax on all income including UC. she must have been confused about someting else or had other income. i used to work at H&R block and saw this all the time

While we're discussing unemployment and taxes, I wanted to mention something that helped me when I had issues with my claim earlier this year. I couldn't get through to anyone at PA UC for weeks about my missing payments before filing taxes. Someone told me about Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they connected me directly to a UC agent without waiting on hold for hours. They have a video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2. It saved me so much time and frustration when I needed to get my 1099-G corrected before filing.

Back to the tax question - make sure you also see if you qualify for the Tax Forgiveness program in PA. If your total income is below certain thresholds (which vary based on number of dependents), you might not owe any state tax on your UC benefits. This is especially important if unemployment was your main source of income last year. You'll need to fill out Schedule SP with your PA return to claim this benefit. The income limits are fairly generous.

Great to see you got it figured out! Just wanted to add one more tip for anyone else dealing with this - if you're using TurboTax and can't find the "Less Common Income" section, you can also search for "1099-G" in the search bar at the top and it should take you right to the unemployment income entry page. Also, definitely check that Tax Forgiveness program - I was surprised how many people qualify but don't know about it. The income thresholds are updated each year so even if you didn't qualify before, you might this time around!