How much is unemployment taxes - Washington ESD withholding questions

Unemployment benefits are taxed as regular income at your normal tax rate. There's no special unemployment tax rate - it just gets added to your other income. You can elect to have 10% federal taxes withheld when you file your weekly claims.

I made the same mistake last year! Didn't withhold anything and ended up owing like $3,200 at tax time. This year I'm having the 10% withheld automatically. You can change it in your Washington ESD account under payment options.

For anyone dealing with Washington ESD issues around tax withholding or needing to speak with someone about changing your settings, I found this service called Claimyr that actually gets you through to ESD agents. Check out claimyr.com - they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ. Way better than trying to call and getting busy signals all day.

Just to clarify - Washington state doesn't have state income tax, so you only need to worry about federal taxes on your unemployment. That's one good thing about living here I guess.

I'm a tax preparer and see this all the time. The 10% withholding Washington ESD offers usually isn't enough if you're in a higher tax bracket. I always recommend people have at least 15-20% withheld if they're single or estimate quarterly payments.

This is why the unemployment system is so messed up. They should automatically withhold taxes instead of making it optional. How are people supposed to know this stuff?

For what it's worth, if you end up owing more than $1,000 in taxes, you might also owe an underpayment penalty. There are ways to avoid it though - like if you paid at least 90% of this year's tax liability through withholding from other jobs.

I got my 1099-G from Washington ESD in January last year and it showed the total benefits and any taxes withheld. Make sure to keep an eye out for that form - you'll need it to file your taxes.

Been there! What I did was calculate roughly what I thought I'd owe and put that money in a separate savings account. That way when tax time came, I wasn't scrambling to find the cash.

Another option is to increase withholding at your current job if you're working again. Have them take out extra from each paycheck to cover what you'll owe on the unemployment.

Had to use Claimyr last month to get through to ESD about my 1099-G form that never came. They got me connected within like 20 minutes. Definitely worth checking out if you need to talk to someone about tax withholding changes for next time.

Just want to add that if you're self-employed or have other income that doesn't have taxes withheld, you should definitely be making quarterly payments. Unemployment income just adds to that obligation.

The good news is that unemployment benefits are only taxable at the federal level. No FICA taxes (Social Security/Medicare) on unemployment like there would be on regular wages.

I know this doesn't help you now, but for anyone reading this who's currently on unemployment - set up the tax withholding ASAP. It's so much easier than dealing with a big tax bill later.

If you do end up owing a lot, just remember that you can usually set up a payment plan with the IRS. It's not the end of the world, just annoying. Don't let it stress you out too much.

One more thing - if you had other jobs during the year, make sure you're not overpaying. Sometimes the withholding from your regular job plus setting aside money for unemployment taxes can result in a refund.

This thread has been super helpful! I'm in a similar situation and was dreading tax season. At least now I know what to expect and can prepare for it.

For anyone who needs to contact Washington ESD about tax withholding changes or questions, that Claimyr service mentioned earlier really does work. I was skeptical at first but they got me through to an actual person who could help update my account settings.

Thanks everyone for all the info! I feel much better prepared now. Going to calculate what I probably owe and start setting money aside just in case.

Final tip: if you use tax software like TurboTax or H&R Block, they'll walk you through everything and calculate what you owe automatically. Just make sure you have your 1099-G form when you file.