How much does Washington ESD unemployment take out for taxes - need to know rates

So on my $427 weekly payment, they'd take out about $42.70 each week? That seems like it might not be enough to cover what I'll actually owe.

Yeah that's right, $42.70 per week. Whether it's enough depends on your total income for the year and tax bracket. Most people find 10% is on the low side.

How do you change the withholding amount after you've already started getting payments? I didn't request any withholding when I first applied.

You can change it by logging into your Washington ESD account and updating your tax withholding preferences. It should take effect on your next payment.

That makes sense about Social Security taxes not applying. Do you know if there's a way to have them withhold more than 10% through Washington ESD?

Unfortunately Washington ESD only offers the standard 10% federal withholding option. You can't request a higher percentage through them. Your best bet is to set aside additional money yourself.

I've been setting aside 22% of each payment since that's roughly my tax bracket. Better safe than sorry come April.

When you log into your Washington ESD account, look for 'Payment Options' or 'Tax Withholding' in your profile settings. You can still add it even if you didn't select it initially.

Found it! It was under my profile settings. Just updated it to withhold 10%. Thanks for the help!

How does that service work? I've been trying to call Washington ESD for weeks about various questions but can never get through.

Basically they help you get connected to Washington ESD agents when the phone lines are swamped. Way easier than trying to call yourself and getting busy signals all day.

Interesting, I might have to check that out. I've been on hold for hours trying to get answers about my claim status.

Good point. I've been doing some gig work while collecting unemployment. I should probably calculate my total expected income for the year.

Definitely do that calculation. And make sure you're reporting your gig work income on your weekly claims too.

Changing your tax withholding preferences shouldn't affect your payment timing at all. It's just an automatic deduction from your benefit amount.

Thanks, that's reassuring. I'll update mine this week then.

Same here! I thought it was like workers comp or something that wasn't taxed. Live and learn I guess.

It's a common misconception. Unemployment benefits have always been taxable income at the federal level, just like wages from a job.

18% seems like a good middle ground. Better to overpay and get a refund than underpay and owe money.

Agreed. I'd rather have the government hold my money interest-free than scramble to pay a big tax bill.

Your combined income will determine your tax bracket, so you'll need to calculate based on your total household income. The unemployment benefits will be taxed at whatever marginal rate applies to your combined income.

That makes sense. I'll need to sit down with my spouse and figure out our expected total income for the year.

You can't retroactively withhold taxes from payments you've already received. You can only change it going forward. For the payments you already got, you'll need to set aside money yourself.

Figures. Guess I need to do some quick math on what I've received so far and set that aside.

I had the same situation and ended up using Claimyr to get through to an agent who confirmed this. They were really helpful in explaining all the options.

I hadn't thought about quarterly payments. I don't usually have to do those but maybe I should this year with the unemployment income.

If your total tax liability is going to be more than $1,000 you might need to make quarterly payments to avoid penalties. Worth looking into.

The IRS actually has a tax withholding estimator tool on their website that can help with this. You input your expected income from all sources and it tells you if you're withholding enough.

Oh that's helpful! I'll definitely check that out. Thanks for the tip.

That's smart using a separate savings account. I should probably do that instead of just keeping it in my checking account where I might accidentally spend it.

Yeah definitely recommend a separate account. Out of sight, out of mind until tax time.

Same here! Really glad I asked about this now instead of finding out the hard way next April.

Better to plan ahead than get surprised by a huge tax bill. Learned that lesson the hard way with some freelance work a few years ago.

Good point. I'm hoping to find work soon so I'll need to remember to tell HR about the unemployment income when I update my tax info.

Exactly. The payroll system won't know about your unemployment benefits so it'll calculate withholding as if that's your only income for the year.

They'll send you a 1099-G form in January showing your total unemployment income for the year. You can't get it early but it usually arrives pretty quickly after New Year's.

I actually got through to them using that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier. The agent told me the 1099-G forms go out in the last week of January typically.

Good to know, thanks! I'll just wait for the official form then.

Not a bad idea if you can afford it. They'll make sure you don't miss any deductions and handle all the unemployment tax calculations correctly.

Yeah, might be worth the cost to avoid any mistakes. Thanks for all the helpful info everyone!