Will ESD take unpaid unemployment overpayment from tax refund?

Yes, if you don't pay or set up a payment plan, ESD will eventually send it to collections and it WILL be taken from your tax refund. They did this to me in 2023 - they took $1,200 from my federal refund for an overpayment from 2022 that I didn't even know about until it was too late. You should call them ASAP and set up a payment plan even if it's just $25 a month to avoid having your full refund garnished.

they only take it if u ignore it for a long time. just pay like $10 a month on their website and ur good. thats what i did lol

To clarify some misinformation here: ESD doesn't directly take money from your tax refund. What happens is if you don't address the overpayment, it gets referred to the Department of Revenue for collection after about 30 days, and then it can be subject to the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) which is what actually intercepts your tax refund. You have options: 1. Appeal the overpayment within 30 days if you believe it's incorrect 2. Set up a payment plan through your eServices account 3. Request a waiver if you can demonstrate financial hardship I recommend logging into your eServices account and requesting a payment plan right away. For a small amount like $435, they're usually very reasonable with monthly payments.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS A SCAM!!!!! They deliberately make "mistakes" on processing our claims so they can charge us overpayments later!!!! I had a $2,800 overpayment that I fought for 6 months and FINALLY got it removed because THEY were the ones who made the error! DON'T JUST PAY IT - FIGHT IT!!!

I had a similar situation with a $520 overpayment last year. I tried calling ESD for weeks with no luck - constant busy signals and disconnections. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through to an agent in about 20 minutes. They helped me set up a payment plan of $50/month which kept my account in good standing and prevented collections. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. It was such a relief to finally talk to someone who could actually help!

hey my brother had this happen to him he ignored the letters for like 4 months and then yep they took his whole tax refund without warning so def dont ignore it!!! even if u just pay a tiny bit each month theyll usually leave ur refund alone

To properly address your overpayment and protect your tax refund, follow these steps: 1. Log into your eServices account at secure.esd.wa.gov 2. Navigate to the "Overpayment" section 3. Select "Set up payment plan" 4. Choose a monthly amount you can afford (even $20-30/month is acceptable) 5. Make sure you make the first payment immediately As long as you have an active payment plan and are making payments, ESD won't refer your debt to collections or the Treasury Offset Program. The key is taking action before the 30-day response window expires. Also, check if the overpayment is classified as "fraudulent" or "non-fraudulent" - if it's just a simple reporting error, it should be non-fraudulent which gives you more flexible repayment options.

Make sure to keep all documentation too! I had a payment plan that somehow got "lost" in their system and they still tried to take my refund even though I had been making payments. I had to send them copies of my bank statements showing the payments to get it straightened out. Their record-keeping isn't always great.