Amendment because of unemployment

[AnthonyD2004]

So i have a quick question, 

Basically i had unemployment in 2020 and 2021. I filed my 2021 taxes on time but i just recently filed my 2020 taxes. I just remembered there being a question when i was looking over my return thing saying something about “were you required to pay benefits back” so pretty much i’ve been in a dispute with them since Dec 2021 about benefits from 2020 and 2021 saying i was overpaid everything.  on . do i need to go back and amend and put yes i had to repay them or no. or when will i have to put yes, also i haven’t paid them a dollar yet. and it seems to be going my way right now so i just don’t know what to do about it. do i just leave everything? 

[rjs]

If you repay unemployment benefits that you received in an earlier year, you report the repayment on your tax return for the year in which you repaid it. You do not amend your tax return for the year that you received the benefits. So if you received unemployment in 2020 and 2021, and you repay part of it in 2022 or 2023, you will report the repayment on your 2022 or 2023 tax return. The repayment in 2022 or 2023 does not affect your 2020 or 2021 tax return. The question that you recall seeing in TurboTax asked if you repaid any benefits in the same year that you received it.

[AnthonyD2004]

so id only have to amend those years if i repaid it? so say i have to pay them for example $100 in 2024 id report that repayment on my 2024 tax return. also do i need to go back and hit yes i was required to pay some back? or do i not do anything since i haven’t paid them in those years.

[ee-ea]

Do nothing to the years when you got the UE.  See this from the IRS

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525#en_US_2021_publink1000229600

[NCperson]

@AnthonyD2004 - you report the repayment in the year your repaid the money, not the year you originally received it.

And if the amount of repayment is under $3,000, it is a moot point - it is not reportable on your tax return by rule. if it is over $3,000, then it gets complex but it is reportable on a tax return.

[rjs]

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@AnthonyD2004 wrote:

so id only have to amend those years if i repaid it?

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No. You do not amend the past years under any circumstances, whether or not you repay anything. No amendment.

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@AnthonyD2004 wrote:

also do i need to go back and hit yes i was required to pay some back?

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No, you do not go back. The question in the earlier year did not ask whether you ever paid some back. It asked whether you repaid any unemployment in that year. You did not, so your answer to the question will never be Yes, even if you repay in a later year.

[AnthonyD2004]

1. okay so let’s say for example i owe $10,000 (example) and in the year 2022 i pay them $1500 i wouldn’t report it because i didn’t pay over $3000 in that year….. but if i paid them $3001 in 2022 i’d report it? or is it any amount i repay them in a year id report how much i paid them back? sorry i probably sound stupid 

2. also they did take some of the overpayment off, i don’t really know how this is gonna work with my taxes i might have to have a CPA do them this year. They might forgive it all i have no clue what’s going on but i’ll be able to explain that to a CPA better once i know what’s happening and what’s final and what’s not.

[AnthonyD2004]

thank you so much.

[AnthonyD2004]

so the question is pretty much “did you pay any unemployment back in the year that you received the benefits” so if i never get unemployment again i pretty much don’t have to worry about it.

[AnthonyD2004]

so if i owe them money from 2020 and 2021 and say i pay them $100 tomorrow, will i report it on my 2022 return as repayment of UI benefits?

[rjs]

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@AnthonyD2004 wrote:

so if i owe them money from 2020 and 2021 and say i pay them $100 tomorrow, will i report it on my 2022 return as repayment of UI benefits?

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If you only pay $100 you will not report it at all. You only report it if you pay more than $3,000 in one year. If you pay more than $3,000 this month, then yes, you will report the repayment on your 2022 tax return.

[AnthonyD2004]

okay last question lol. so in 2023 i pay $2999 i will still answer no i was not required to pay any?

[rjs]

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@AnthonyD2004 wrote:

okay last question lol.

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Promise?

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@AnthonyD2004 wrote:

so in 2023 i pay $2999 i will still answer no i was not required to pay any?

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You are still misunderstanding the question that TurboTax asks. For your 2023 tax return it will ask if you repaid in 2023 any unemployment benefits that you received in 2023. It will even have a note that says "If you repaid benefits that you received in 2022 or earlier, don't enter that here." So you will answer No no matter how much you repaid for an earlier year. You will only answer Yes if you repaid, in 2023, benefits that you received in 2023. And in that case you will answer Yes no matter how much of your 2023 unemployment benefits you repaid in 2023. But you won't even see the question unless you received unemployment benefits in 2023.

If, in 2023, you repay $2,999, or even $3,000, of your 2020 or 2021 unemployment, you will do nothing. You only report it if you repay more than $3,000. And if you do repay more than $3,000 of benefits that you received in an earlier year, you don't enter it where you enter unemployment that you received in 2023. There's a different place to enter a repayment of benefits that you received in an earlier year.