I was overpaid by Washington State Unemployment and we had to pay this amount back. This year they refunded this. Do we have to report this on this year's taxes?

[SharonD007]

We'd love to help you but need more information.  When you say "this year" is it 2023 or 2024? Did you get a 1099-G form for the money they refunded to you?  Please clarify.

[willjames624]

We did not receive a 1099 G at all for 2023, when we received this pandemic waiver.  In 2021, my husband was overpaid by Washington State Unemployment.  We paid the money back in 2022.  In Dec 2023, they refunded this amount.  I had to pare down my original post because of the limit on characters.  Thank you for your help.

[DianeW777]

It depends. Since you received it and paid tax on it in the year received, repayment occurred in 2022 and it's not clear if you repaid enough for it to reduce your income in 2022 (more than $3,000).  

Unemployment is taxable for federal purposes which is the only indicator that it should be included.  There was a federal deduction of unemployment benefits in 2020, however it was only for that year. This leads me to believe it is taxable only if you were able to take a deduction in 2022 when it was repaid.  If you did not reduce your income for the repayment in 2022, then you would not be required to report it now.

Washington Pandemic Waiver Program:

You may have received an overpayment of unemployment benefits during the pandemic — between Feb. 2, 2020, to Sept. 4, 2021 — but don’t worry. We’re here to help! We want to waive overpayments for people who qualify. And, if you’ve already paid us back, and we waive your overpayment, you’ll likely get a refund!

We’ll review your case soon, but you can help by providing us with more information. If you do not, we’ll still check if you are eligible for a waiver based on available information. After we review your case, we will send you our decision.

@willjames624 

[willjames624]

Thank you so much for your help!

[Mtp1991]

who do we contact to apply for $ back if we had the overpayment from Covid unemployment that garnished our wages? Where do we go?

My Question is in response to:

" Washington Pandemic Waiver Program:

You may have received an overpayment of unemployment benefits during the pandemic — between Feb. 2, 2020, to Sept. 4, 2021 — but don’t worry. We’re here to help! We want to waive overpayments for people who qualify. And, if you’ve already paid us back, and we waive your overpayment, you’ll likely get a refund!

We’ll review your case soon, but you can help by providing us with more information. If you do not, we’ll still check if you are eligible for a waiver based on available information. After we review your case, we will send you our decision"

[Mtp1991]

Also  what about all the interest we were charged for? Does that also get dleedynded?

[IsabellaG]

That program is through the Washington Employment Security Department, and we have no information about how it's handled, but here is a link that may help you get started.

[Mtp1991]

I was in the LONG process of being refunded for the $ that I had paid back on my overpayment from covid.      However I had a SMALL amount of $ i owed still on a 2014 UE overpayment  & it had Grown  to be up to $6000 in accumulated interest,  & that $6,000:  2014 overpayment ended up siphoning ALL of the $ I was supposed to be refunded from the covid  unemployment overpayment. The unfair part is that the accumulated interest from the 2014 overpayment cost me:

 $5,000   * MORE *   than the $ that I had owed on that 2014 overpayment. So instead of owing around $1,000, I was charged $6,000  TOTAL for the 2014 overpayment  & the 10+ years of interest from the Original $1,000 I had owed at the start on the 2014 overpayment. 

Is there ANY possible way to get that $ back or at a minimum  to get the $ back on the EXTREMELY HIGH  ACCUMULATED INTEREST i paid that went over 5 times of what the 2014 overpayment amount started of as??

[JotikaT2]

Can you clarify what state this is for?  If it's for Washington and the unemployment, you would need to contact them directly for assistance.  The Washington Employment Security Department has a resource for financial help that could potentially assist with resolving the interest if it's related to their department.  

If the interest is from another source, please comment back with the agency and we'll do our best to assist you.

@Mtp1991