Washington ESD unemployment compensation taxable for 2023 federal taxes?

Yes, unemployment benefits are fully taxable as ordinary income on your federal return for 2023. You should have received a 1099-G form from Washington ESD showing the total amount you received.

ugh same situation here, got like $15k in benefits and didnt have taxes taken out... gonna owe so much

For anyone struggling to get through to Washington ESD about tax forms or withholding questions, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me reach an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Way easier than spending hours on hold.

The tax treatment is straightforward - unemployment compensation gets reported as ordinary income on line 1h of Form 1040. If you didn't have federal taxes withheld, you'll likely owe estimated taxes plus potentially an underpayment penalty depending on your total tax situation for 2023.

I'm so confused by all this tax stuff. Do I need to file quarterly estimated taxes if I'm still getting unemployment benefits in 2024?

You can request federal tax withholding by logging into your Washington ESD account and updating your payment preferences. They'll withhold 10% for federal taxes if you elect that option.

wait so the unemployment money I got in 2023 is the same as like regular job income for taxes? thats so dumb, we already lost our jobs

Does anyone know if Washington state taxes unemployment benefits? I know we don't have state income tax but want to make sure.

I made the mistake of not having taxes withheld from my unemployment in 2022 and ended up owing like $3,000. Learned my lesson and had them withhold this time around.

The 1099-G form will show your total benefits in box 1. Make sure the amount matches what you actually received because sometimes there are errors, especially if you had any overpayments or adjustments during the year.

For anyone who needs to contact Washington ESD about 1099-G corrections or tax withholding questions, I had success using Claimyr again this week. Much faster than the regular phone lines which are swamped right now with tax season questions.

Just a heads up that if you received unemployment benefits and your total income for 2023 was under certain thresholds, you might qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit or other credits that could offset some of the tax on your benefits.

does anyone know if the american rescue plan thing that made unemployment tax free applies to 2023? or was that just for 2020?

I'm dealing with a similar situation but I also received some overpayment notices from Washington ESD last year. Do I still report the full amount from the 1099-G even if I had to pay some back?

For people worried about owing taxes, remember you can still make estimated tax payments for the 4th quarter of 2023 until January 16th, 2024 to reduce any underpayment penalty.

This whole thread is making me nervous about my tax situation. I got unemployment for about 8 months in 2023 and never thought about the tax implications until now.

One more plug for Claimyr if people are having trouble reaching Washington ESD about tax forms or any other issues. I've recommended it to several friends and they've all had good experiences getting through to actual agents.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful info. At least now I know what to expect when I file my 2023 taxes. Definitely going to elect tax withholding if I need unemployment again.

One thing I learned the hard way - if you moved states during 2023 while receiving unemployment, make sure you understand which state's taxes apply. Can get complicated fast.

Bottom line for everyone - unemployment compensation is ordinary income for federal tax purposes in 2023. No special treatment like there was in 2020. Plan accordingly and consider having taxes withheld if you're still receiving benefits.