CHICAGO — Some are learning a jarring lesson about unemployment as they prepare their tax returns.
At a time when the newly laid-off are swelling unemployment rolls to record numbers, the painful surprise for many is that jobless benefits are taxed like income. That leaves many on the hook for hundreds or thousands of dollars because the taxes aren’t automatically withheld from benefit checks.
To make things worse, some people also are hit with a state unemployment tax bill.
The tax is no government secret — unemployment benefits have been fully taxable for more than 20 years. But many complain that they aren’t properly informed about the tax or the fact withholding isn’t automatic.
The economic stimulus program will temporarily ease the impact by eliminating federal income taxes on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits received this year. It’s a one-shot break, though and the boost may last for just a few weeks.
Eric Victorson of Issaquah, Wash., said he was “dumbfounded” to learn the impact of taxes. The 35-year-old business systems analyst was laid off in October, getting by on a $541-a-week unemployment check after making three times that at Microsoft.
He didn’t realize the tax jolt he’d get until this year. What would have been a $2,900 refund was whittled to $1,400 — halving an amount he needs to help him get by while he looks for a new job.
Those seeking to minimize tax-time problems can request that income taxes be withheld from their unemployment checks or simply set money aside to make sure they can pay the taxes by April 15, if it’s feasible. But that may be difficult, because, as Victorson noted, “the money barely is enough to survive on as it is.”
