How to list doordash on unemployment weekly claims in Washington ESD

You need to report DoorDash as self-employment income, not wages. When you file your weekly claim, there's a section for self-employment earnings. Put the gross amount you earned before any expenses.

been doing uber eats and instacart, same situation. you report the total you made that week in the self employment box. they'll reduce your benefits based on how much you earned

This is actually a common issue with gig work reporting. I had the same confusion when I started doing delivery apps. The key thing is Washington ESD considers DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart etc. as self-employment, not traditional employment. When you file your weekly claim, you'll see a question about self-employment earnings - that's where you report your gross delivery income for that week.

I struggled with this same issue for weeks! Kept getting my claims held up because I wasn't reporting my DoorDash income correctly. Finally got through to someone at Washington ESD using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they have this video demo that shows exactly how their service works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ. The agent explained that all gig work goes under self-employment income, not in the employer section.

WAIT - I've been putting DoorDash as an employer this whole time! Does this mean my claims are going to get messed up? I've been doing this for like 6 weeks now...

the whole gig economy thing is confusing for unemployment. technically youre an independent contractor not an employee so it goes in the self employment section. but yeah the UI system could be way clearer about this stuff

Pro tip: keep detailed records of everything. Date, hours worked, gross earnings, expenses. Not just for unemployment but you'll need it for taxes too since you'll get a 1099 from DoorDash.

Just be careful about working too many hours. If you're doing DoorDash full time, Washington ESD might question whether you're really available for work. The whole point of UI is that you're looking for employment.

Had to deal with this exact situation last year. What a headache. The Washington ESD rep told me that ANY income from gig work has to be reported as self-employment, even if it's just a few dollars. Better to over-report than under-report.

this is why i stopped doing delivery apps while on unemployment. too confusing and not worth the hassle. rather just focus on finding a real job

Make sure you understand how the earnings will affect your weekly benefit amount. In Washington, they deduct your self-employment income from your benefits, usually dollar for dollar after a small disregard amount. So if you make $200 doing DoorDash, your UI payment might be reduced by most of that.

The key thing is just being honest about your earnings. Washington ESD has ways of finding out if you don't report income, and then you'll really be in trouble. Overpayment notices are no joke.

Does anyone know if you can deduct car expenses when reporting DoorDash income on your weekly claim? Or is that just for taxes?

I've been dealing with this for months. One thing I learned is that you need to report the income for the week you actually received it, not when you worked. So if you worked Sunday but didn't get paid until Tuesday, report it for the week you got paid.

Whatever you do, don't try to hide the income. Washington ESD cross-references with other agencies and they will find out. Just report it correctly as self-employment and you'll be fine.

One more tip - if your DoorDash income varies a lot week to week, keep good records of which earnings go with which week. It'll save you headaches later if Washington ESD has questions.

Just want to echo what others have said - report it as self-employment income, be honest about the amounts, and keep good records. The Washington ESD system isn't perfect but if you follow the rules you'll be okay.

I had a similar issue but with Instacart. Same principle applies - it's self-employment income. Just make sure you're still available for regular work and doing your job search requirements. That's the main thing Washington ESD cares about.

Final thought - if you end up having issues with your claims because of the DoorDash reporting, don't wait to get help. The longer you wait, the more complicated it gets to fix. I wish I had used something like that Claimyr service earlier instead of trying to handle everything myself.

Hope this all works out for you! Gig work while on unemployment can be tricky but lots of people do it successfully. Just stay organized and honest with your reporting.

I've been doing gig work while on unemployment too and wanted to add that it's really important to keep track of which week you actually received the payment, not just when you worked. DoorDash usually pays pretty quickly but there can still be a day or two delay. I made the mistake early on of reporting income for the wrong week and it caused some confusion with my claims. Also, even though it reduces your benefits somewhat, having that extra income can really help cover expenses while you're job hunting. Just make sure you're still meeting all your work search requirements - that's what they really care about.