What counts as unemployment income for Washington ESD weekly claims?

Unemployment benefits ARE income - they're taxable income that you'll need to report on your tax return. Washington ESD will send you a 1099-G form at the end of the year showing how much you received. When you file your weekly claims though, you don't report your UI benefits as 'income' - those are separate from work income.

The tricky part is understanding what other types of income affect your benefits. Severance pay usually does count and can delay when you can start collecting. Vacation pay depends on when it was earned vs when it was paid out.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to clarify income reporting questions, I had good luck with Claimyr recently. It's a service that helps you actually reach an agent instead of getting the busy signal all day. Check out claimyr.com - they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling.

unemployment income is just the money you get from unemployment right?? like the weekly payments? im so confused by all this stuff

Here's what you need to know about income and Washington ESD: 1. UI benefits = taxable income for IRS purposes 2. Work earnings = must report on weekly claims 3. Severance/vacation pay = affects initial eligibility 4. Pension income = may reduce weekly benefit amount 5. Self-employment income = must report even small amounts The key is understanding which type of income affects what part of the process.

The Washington ESD website explains this but it's buried in like 47 different FAQ pages. Basically unemployment income refers to your weekly benefit payments - that's income you're receiving. But when you file weekly claims, you report OTHER income sources that might affect those benefits.

I've been on unemployment for 8 weeks and STILL don't fully understand all the income rules. They make it so complicated for no reason. Like why can't they just ask 'did you work this week' instead of all these detailed questions about different types of income.

Pro tip: keep track of ALL income sources in a simple spreadsheet. Makes it way easier when you're doing your weekly claims and when tax time comes around. Include dates, amounts, and source of income.

just to add to what others said - your unemployment payments will show up on your tax return as income, so if you're not having taxes withheld from your weekly benefits, you might owe money at tax time. You can request withholding on your Washington ESD account.

The term 'unemployment income' is confusing because it could mean money FROM unemployment (your benefits) or money AFFECTING unemployment (other income sources). Context matters when people use that phrase.

If anyone is struggling to get answers from Washington ESD about income questions, I used Claimyr last week and actually got through to someone who could explain my specific situation. Way better than the automated system that just hangs up on you.

been dealing with this for months and Washington ESD still hasn't given me a straight answer about whether my freelance work counts as self employment income. the system is totally broken

The bottom line is: unemployment benefits are income you receive and must pay taxes on. Any OTHER income you earn while collecting unemployment might affect your weekly benefit amount and must be reported when you file your weekly claims.

One more thing - if you made a mistake reporting income on past weekly claims, you should contact Washington ESD to correct it. Better to fix it now than deal with an overpayment notice later.

Thanks everyone for explaining this. The Washington ESD system makes something that should be simple way more complicated than it needs to be.

I'm new to unemployment and this thread has been really eye-opening! I had no idea that UI benefits themselves count as taxable income. I've been collecting for about 3 weeks now and haven't set up tax withholding yet. Should I be worried about owing a lot at tax time? Also, does anyone know if there's a penalty for not having taxes withheld from unemployment benefits, or is it just like any other situation where you might owe taxes in April?