How much taxes do they take out of unemployment Washington ESD benefits?

Oh that's good to know about no state taxes! So the 10% federal is just a standard rate they offer?

Yes exactly. It's just a flat 10% federal withholding option. Whether that's enough depends on your total income for the year and tax bracket.

It really depends on your situation. If unemployment is your only income this year, you might not owe much. But if you had other jobs or income, you could end up owing a significant amount.

yeah i worked for 8 months before getting laid off so i probably should have had them withhold something

Yikes! $1,800 is a lot. How do I figure out if 10% will be enough for my situation?

You can use the IRS withholding calculator online or talk to a tax professional. Generally if your total income puts you in the 22% bracket, the 10% won't cover it.

You can change it by logging into your SecureAccess Washington account and updating your tax withholding preferences. The change should take effect with your next weekly claim.

Perfect, thank you! I'll do that this weekend when I file my weekly claim.

I had trouble getting into my account to make changes. Kept getting error messages when I tried to update anything. If you run into issues, there's this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps people get through to Washington ESD agents. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works.

This is so important! My neighbor didn't know unemployment was taxable and owed $3,000 last April. She had to set up a payment plan with the IRS.

Exactly! It's treated just like regular income for tax purposes. The only difference is the withholding is optional instead of automatic.

I agree their tax info is pretty basic. I ended up calling H&R Block to ask about my specific situation since I wasn't sure.

Good idea. Professional advice is probably worth it if you're dealing with a significant amount of benefits.

That's helpful to know. I'm in a similar situation - single and this is my main income right now.

Same here. The 10% has worked out fine for me over the past few months.

I didn't know about the penalty! How much is it usually?

It varies but it's calculated as interest on the amount you should have paid quarterly. Usually not huge but still annoying to pay extra.

How much did that cost? I've been trying to call for days but keep getting the busy signal.

It was worth it for me since I was wasting so much time trying to call. Check out their demo video to see how it works - https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ

Yes, it's 10% of your total weekly benefit amount. So if you're getting $520, they'll withhold $52 for federal taxes.

Got it, that makes sense. Thanks for confirming!

Yes, Washington ESD will send you a 1099-G form by January 31st showing your total benefits and any federal taxes withheld. You'll need this for your tax return.

Perfect, good to know I'll get the proper documentation.

I think the problem is they don't know your other income sources or tax situation, so they can't really calculate the right amount automatically.

True, but even a rough estimate would be better than the current system.

That's weird. Did Washington ESD explain why it changed?

No, I never got a clear answer. Could have been a system glitch or maybe I accidentally changed it when filing a weekly claim.

This happened to me last month too! I had to call to get it fixed. Took forever to get through but once I did, the agent was able to restore my withholding setting. If you're having trouble reaching them, that Claimyr service mentioned earlier actually helped me get through when I was stuck in phone hell.

Wow, that's a significant amount. Definitely makes sense to think carefully about the withholding decision.

Exactly. And if you're in a higher tax bracket, you'd still owe more on top of that $4,830.

Good point! I qualified for EIC last year even though I received unemployment for part of the year.

I hadn't thought about tax credits. Definitely something to look into when I file my return.