Do you have to put unemployment on your taxes - Washington ESD questions

Yes, unemployment benefits from Washington ESD are absolutely taxable as federal income. You should have received a 1099-G form from Washington ESD showing the total amount you received in 2024. This needs to be reported on your federal tax return just like regular wages.

Your neighbor is wrong - unemployment is definitely taxable income. I learned this the hard way a few years ago when I didn't report mine and got a notice from the IRS. The good news is you can have taxes withheld from your UI payments when you're receiving them to avoid a big tax bill later.

I had trouble getting through to Washington ESD when I needed my 1099-G form last year. If you can't find yours online or didn't receive it in the mail, you might want to try Claimyr. It's a service that helps you actually get through to ESD agents on the phone - check out claimyr.com. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. I used it when I was stuck in adjudication and it saved me hours of calling.

Wait, so unemployment counts as income even though it's not from working? That seems weird to me.

I got my 1099-G from Washington ESD last week and was shocked at how much I received. It was over $8,000 for the year! I had no idea it added up to that much. Now I'm worried about owing a ton in taxes since I didn't have anything withheld.

For what it's worth, Washington state doesn't have a state income tax, so you only need to worry about federal taxes on your UI benefits. That's at least one less thing to deal with compared to other states.

This is my first time filing taxes with unemployment benefits and I'm so confused. Do I need to report every weekly claim separately or just the total amount from the 1099-G?

I'm still waiting for my 1099-G form and I'm getting nervous about filing my taxes late. Anyone know if there's a deadline for when Washington ESD has to send them out?

Pro tip: if your total tax liability is under $1,000 when you include your unemployment income, you probably won't owe any penalties even if you didn't have taxes withheld. But if it's more than that, you might get hit with an underpayment penalty.

I made the mistake of not having taxes withheld from my UI benefits and ended up owing almost $2,000 last year. Lesson learned - always elect to have the 10% withheld if you think you'll be in this situation again.

For anyone having trouble reaching Washington ESD about their 1099-G, I used a service called Claimyr last month when I needed to update my address for tax documents. Worked great - got connected to someone within minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. Just search for them online if you need help getting through.

I'm confused about something - if I received unemployment benefits in 2024 but some of the payments were for weeks in 2023 due to delays in processing, which year do I report them on?

Does anyone know if the extra federal unemployment benefits from a few years ago during COVID were taxable too? I just want to make sure I reported everything correctly back then.

This thread is really helpful - I had no idea about most of this stuff. My unemployment benefits were my only income for part of last year so I wasn't sure if I even needed to file taxes.

Quick question - if I moved to Washington from another state and received UI benefits from both states during the year, do I need to report both on my federal return?

I'm dreading doing my taxes this year. Between unemployment, a couple different W-2s from jobs I had, and some freelance work, it's going to be a nightmare. Might be worth paying someone to sort it all out.

One more thing to remember - if you had to pay back any unemployment benefits due to an overpayment, you might be able to deduct that repayment on your tax return.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful info! I feel much more prepared to tackle my taxes now. Going to log into my SecureAccess Washington account right now to grab my 1099-G.

For anyone still struggling to get their 1099-G or having other issues with Washington ESD, I had great success with Claimyr when I needed to resolve a problem with my account. They got me connected to an actual person who could help instead of dealing with the automated system. Just wanted to mention it since so many people seem to have trouble getting through to ESD on their own.

Well this has been an eye-opening thread. I thought I was all set with my taxes but now I realize I need to hunt down my unemployment documents. Better late than never I guess!