Do I need to report Social Security benefits to TWC when requesting payment?

Oh no, really? Did he have to pay back benefits?

This is WRONG. My brother had to pay back $5000 in benefits because he didnt report his SS. TWC counts it!!!

Guys, there's some confusion here. Regular Social Security retirement benefits don't need to be reported to TWC during payment requests. The system is asking about work income, not unearned income like retirement benefits. However, if you're receiving Social Security Disability (SSDI), that's a different situation and could affect your unemployment eligibility entirely. Here's what TWC actually says: When requesting payment, you must report any work or earnings during the claim period. Social Security retirement is not considered work or earnings.

idk all the details, he just told me he got in trouble for not reporting it. maybe it was something else

Thank you! I was thinking about calling them but kept putting it off because of how frustrating it is to get through. I'll check out that service.

does this actually work? i've been trying to reach TWC for days about my claim

Yes it worked for me! After so many wasted hours trying to call them myself, it was totally worth it. The agent I got was super helpful and cleared up my confusion right away.

Thank you for explaining this so clearly! I actually started receiving Social Security AFTER I was already on unemployment, so they wouldn't have factored it in initially. Does that change anything?

That's a good question. Technically, you should notify TWC of this change through your correspondence inbox on the UI portal. They may recalculate your WBA going forward. But again, during your biweekly payment requests, you still only report work income, not the Social Security benefits.

Pensions can be different from Social Security. If your pension is from an employer that's part of your base period for unemployment, TWC might reduce your benefits. But again, this usually happens at the claim setup, not during payment requests. The biweekly payment request is primarily concerned with new work and earnings during that specific period.

This is really helpful, thank you @Malik Thompson! I was getting so stressed about this. So just to make sure I understand - I don't report the Social Security on my payment requests, but I should send a message through the correspondence system to let them know I started receiving it? And they might reduce my weekly amount but that's separate from the payment reporting process?

Exactly right @Liam O'Sullivan! You've got it. Don't report Social Security on your biweekly payment requests (those are only for work income), but do notify TWC through correspondence that you started receiving it. They may adjust your weekly benefit amount going forward, but that's a separate calculation from what you report every two weeks. I was in the same boat as the original poster and this is exactly what I did - no issues at all.

I'm new to this community but have been dealing with unemployment for a few months now. From what I've researched and based on the helpful responses here, it seems like the safest approach is to notify TWC through correspondence about starting Social Security after your claim was established. Yes, it might trigger a benefit recalculation, but that's better than potentially having issues later if they find out during an audit or review. The way I see it, transparency is always the better route with government agencies. Better to have them reduce your benefits legitimately than to risk having to pay back money later if they determine you should have reported the change. Has anyone here actually had their benefits reduced after notifying TWC about starting Social Security?

Thank you so much @Freya Pedersen for sharing your actual experience with this! This is exactly the kind of real-world example I was hoping to find. It s'frustrating that your benefits got reduced by $40/week, but like you said, at least you know you did everything by the book. I think I m'going to follow the same approach - notify TWC through correspondence about starting Social Security even though I don t'have to report it on the biweekly requests. Better to be transparent upfront than deal with potential problems later. Did the whole process take long after you sent the notification? I m'curious how quickly they processed the change.

@Freya Pedersen this is super helpful, thank you for sharing your actual experience! I m'in almost the exact same situation as you were - started getting SS retirement after my unemployment claim was already going. Your approach of calling TWC directly and then following up with the correspondence notification sounds like the right way to handle it. I know the $40 reduction probably stung, but you re'absolutely right that it s'better to be above board with these agencies. I think I ll'do the same thing - notify them through the portal about starting Social Security benefits even though I won t'report it on my biweekly payment requests. Did you have any other issues after that, or has everything been smooth sailing with your unemployment payments since then?

@Freya Pedersen Thank you for sharing your real experience with this situation! This is exactly what I needed to hear. I m'dealing with the same thing - started Social Security retirement after my unemployment claim was already established. Your approach of being proactive and notifying TWC through correspondence makes total sense, even if it resulted in a benefit reduction. I d'rather have transparency and know I m'following the rules than worry about potential issues down the road. I m'going to follow your lead and send a message through my UI portal correspondence system to let them know about my Social Security benefits. Better to take a small reduction now than face bigger problems later if they find out during an audit. Did they give you any timeline on how long the recalculation would take when you first notified them?

@Freya Pedersen This is incredibly helpful - thank you for sharing your actual experience! I ve'been stressing about this exact situation since I started getting Social Security last month while still on unemployment. Your step-by-step approach makes perfect sense: don t'report SS on the biweekly payment requests since (those are only for work income ,)but do notify TWC through correspondence about the change. The $40 reduction is unfortunate but you re'absolutely right that transparency is better than potential problems later. I m'going to send a message through my correspondence system today. One quick question - when you sent the notification, did you include any specific documentation about your Social Security benefits, or did you just describe the situation in the message?

@Freya Pedersen This is exactly the kind of clear, real-world guidance I was looking for - thank you! Your experience really helps clarify the confusion in this thread. It makes total sense to separate the two processes: don t'report Social Security on biweekly payment requests since (those are for work income only ,)but do notify TWC about starting benefits after your claim was established. The $40 reduction isn t'ideal, but like you said, being transparent with government agencies is always the safer route. I m'going to follow your approach and send a notification through my correspondence system. Quick question - did you mention in your message that you understood this might affect your weekly benefit amount, or did you just report the facts about starting Social Security? I want to make sure I word my notification correctly.