Does unemployment count as income for taxes and benefits in Washington?

I think I chose not to have taxes withheld. Does that mean I'm going to owe a lot at tax time?

Depends on your total income for the year. If unemployment is your only income, you might not owe much. But it's good to set aside about 10-12% just in case.

That's what I was worried about. I'm applying for help with utilities and wasn't sure if I should include my UI payments.

Always be honest on those applications. They can verify your income anyway and lying could disqualify you permanently.

How much does something like that cost? I'm already tight on money.

It was worth it for me to get answers quickly instead of wasting entire days trying to call. The peace of mind was huge.

Never heard of this but might be useful. Washington ESD phone system is absolutely terrible.

Oh good point! I forgot we don't have state tax here. That helps a little.

You should file even if you don't owe taxes. You might get money back, especially if you had any taxes withheld from your unemployment or other jobs.

oh really? i never thought about getting money back

Definitely file. Even if you don't owe anything, filing establishes your tax history which can be important for other things.

Good to know. I've been putting off going to the doctor because I'm worried about costs.

Washington ESD does mention it, but it's buried in all the other paperwork. Easy to miss when you're stressed about filing your claim.

Yeah I was so focused on just getting approved I didn't pay attention to the tax implications.

How do you do quarterly payments? That sounds complicated.

You can do it online through the IRS website. Form 1040ES has the vouchers and instructions. Not as hard as it sounds.

Yikes! I'm definitely going to call Washington ESD and see if I can still elect to have taxes withheld.

If you can't get through their regular phone lines, Claimyr really does help with getting connected to make changes like that.

Thankfully that doesn't apply to me but good point for others who might be reading this.

Exactly. And if you had federal taxes withheld, that amount will be shown separately. You'll need both numbers for your tax return.

I do have student loans but I've been in forbearance. Should I be worried about this?

depends on your loan servicer and what type of forbearance. might want to check with them about how unemployment affects your options

Do you think I should have taxes professionally done this year since I have unemployment income?

Might be worth it for peace of mind, especially if this is your first time dealing with unemployment taxes. The cost isn't usually too high for straightforward returns.

Oh wow that's scary. I definitely don't want to get in trouble like that.

That's fraud if they determine it was intentional. Much better to report everything and let them decide what counts.

I keep seeing people mention this service. Seems like a lot of people have had good experiences with it.

Yeah it's been a game changer for dealing with Washington ESD. Especially when you need quick answers about important stuff like taxes.

That would be so complicated! Glad I'm staying put in Washington.

Thanks everyone! This has been really helpful. I feel much more confident about handling this correctly now.

Good luck with everything! Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions when tax time comes around.

Glad it helped someone else too! I was worried I was asking a dumb question.

Not a dumb question at all. This stuff is confusing and it's better to ask than to guess wrong.