Can I add self-employment income to my TWC claim after filing? First payment request today!
So I just filed for unemployment last week after being laid off from my warehouse job. Today is my first payment request day and I'm kinda freaking out because I just realized I didn't include my side gig doing DoorDash on my initial application. I only do it like 10-15 hours a week and made about $180-$250 weekly depending on tips. Is there a way to add this self-employment income to my TWC claim now? Will they penalize me for not reporting it initially? Also, when I call in for my payment request today, do I need to report the $210 I made from DoorDash last week? Really confused about the whole process and don't want to mess up my benefits!
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Nia Thompson
Yes, you need to report ALL income when filing for unemployment - including self-employment. You should definitely report the DoorDash earnings during your payment request today. For adding it to your claim, you'll need to call TWC directly to update your application. They'll likely adjust your benefit amount based on your combined income sources. Don't panic though - it's better to fix it now than have them discover it later and charge you with an overpayment.
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Luca Esposito
•Thank you! I'm calling for my payment request in about an hour. Will they let me explain about the DoorDash income when I call the automated line or do I need to talk to an actual person to update my claim?
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Mateo Rodriguez
ive been thru this exact thing!! the automated system will ask if you earned money during your request period and you just say YES and enter the amount. but getting someone to update your original claim is IMPOSSIBLE...ive been trying for 3 weeks to reach a human at twc 😡😡
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GalaxyGuardian
•After spending days trying to get through to TWC about a similar issue, I finally used a service called Claimyr. It got me connected to an actual TWC agent in about 25 minutes instead of constant busy signals. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/V-IMvH88P1U?si=kNxmh025COIlIzKh. The agent was able to update my claim on the spot and explained everything I needed to know about reporting my side income. Totally worth checking out if you can't get through on your own.
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Aisha Abdullah
Hey there! When you do your payment request today through the automated system, you'll be asked if you earned any income during the claim period. You'll need to say yes and report your DoorDash earnings. As for adding it to your initial claim, you need to speak with a TWC representative to update your application information. The most important thing is to be honest about your earnings - TWC can cross-reference with tax information, so they'll eventually find out anyway. The good news is that having self-employment income doesn't automatically disqualify you from benefits - it just potentially reduces your weekly benefit amount depending on how much you earn.
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Ethan Wilson
•this happened to my cousin too and he just kept calling until finally someone picked up on like day 5 of trying lol. good luck!
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Yuki Tanaka
EVERYONE LISTEN UP: You must report ALL income to TWC including self-employment! I didn't report my eBay selling business when I filed in 2024 and ended up with a $4,300 overpayment notice plus they wanted to charge me with unemployment fraud!!! I had to go through an appeal hearing and everything. It was a NIGHTMARE. Don't make the same mistake I did. TWC has ways of finding out through tax records and you'll end up paying it all back plus penalties.
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Carmen Diaz
•wait u had to pay it ALL back?? even though u qualified for some benefits?? thats crazy. the system is so unfair sometimes
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Yuki Tanaka
•Yep! Once they determine you committed fraud (which is what they call not reporting income), they can disqualify you for the ENTIRE benefit period. I got lucky in my appeal because I proved it was an honest mistake, but still had to pay back the difference between what I got and what I should have received with the self-employment calculated in.
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Luca Esposito
Just an update - I did my payment request today and reported my DoorDash earnings. The automated system just asked for the total amount I earned before taxes. Still haven't been able to get through to a real person about updating my initial claim though. Been calling the TWC number and getting busy signals all afternoon. When I finally got through once, I was on hold for 45 minutes and then got disconnected. So frustrating!
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GalaxyGuardian
•Have you tried calling right when they open at 7am? That's usually when the wait times are shortest. Also, I found that calling mid-week (Tues/Wed) is better than Monday or Friday when everyone else is calling.
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Ethan Wilson
i have doordash too an the way i handle it is just report earnings during payment request every 2 weeks.. as long as u make less than ur weekly benefit amount u still get something.. i never botherd to update my claim and its been fine for 3 months now
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Nia Thompson
•This is incorrect advice and could cause problems. While yes, you do report earnings during your payment request, you absolutely should update your original claim to include all employment. TWC uses your base period wages to calculate your benefit amount, and leaving off self-employment could result in an incorrect calculation. They can (and do) audit claims, especially when they see consistent self-employment income being reported that wasn't on the original application.
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GalaxyGuardian
I tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) last month when I had a similar issue with my TWC claim, and they got me through to a live person pretty quickly. Worth checking out if you're still struggling to reach someone. The agent I talked to explained that in Texas, you need to report self-employment on your initial claim because it affects your base period calculations. The good news is that they can add it retroactively.
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Luca Esposito
•Thanks for the suggestion! I might try that if I still can't get through by tomorrow. Did you have to pay back any benefits when you added your self-employment income?
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GalaxyGuardian
•In my case, no. They recalculated my benefit amount going forward, but didn't make me pay anything back since I had been reporting the weekly earnings correctly on my payment requests. The agent said as long as you're honest about current earnings during payment requests, they're usually reasonable about claim adjustments.
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Aisha Abdullah
Just to clarify some confusion I'm seeing in the comments: TWC treats self-employment differently than regular W-2 employment when calculating your initial benefit amount. Self-employment income typically doesn't count toward your base period wages that determine your weekly benefit amount (WBA), but you still must report any current self-employment earnings during your payment requests. However, it's crucial to disclose all types of work on your initial application for accuracy. Then during each payment request, report all earnings before taxes for that week. If your weekly DoorDash earnings are less than your WBA, you'll receive partial benefits equal to your WBA minus a portion of your earnings.
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Luca Esposito
•This is super helpful, thank you! So if my weekly benefit amount is $450 and I make $210 from DoorDash in a week, I'd still get partial unemployment? How do they calculate how much I'd get?
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Aisha Abdullah
•In Texas, they use what's called a "partial benefits formula." Basically, you can earn up to 25% of your WBA without reduction (that's called the earnings allowance). Anything over that gets deducted dollar-for-dollar from your benefit payment. So with a $450 WBA, your earnings allowance would be $112.50. Since you earned $210, that's $97.50 over your allowance ($210 - $112.50). Your benefit payment would be $450 - $97.50 = $352.50 for that week. Just make sure you're accurately reporting your earnings each time you request payment.
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