Hi,
My wife received a 1099G for unemployment benefits that she never filed for and never received. Last year around June 2020, my she received a notice from the unemployment agency concerning receiving unemployment benefits. She wasn’t unemployed and had never filed for any sort of benefits so she thought this must be a mistake. She then received an email from the HR department at her school claiming that unemployment benefits had been filed in her name. She was instructed to file a fraud claim, which she did. Several months had gone by with no communication so she thought that it was resolved. She received another letter from the unemployment agency around October claiming they needed more information in order for the benefits to be paid out. Again she was never unemployed and never filed for unemployment benefits so she went online and filed a 2nd fraud claim. Once again, she never heard anything back. Then in January ‘21 she received a 1099–G form for $7458. She went online again to file a fraud and identity theft claim. We are told that we just have to wait for the agency to conduct their investigation. We need to get a corrected 1099-G form, but don't know if we ever will. Again, she was never unemployed, never filed for unemployment benefits, never received an unemployment payment, yet we are being taxed on benefits that were paid out fraudulently. There is no way we should be expected to pay taxes on something we never filed for and never received.
I'm told that we need to include the 1099G on our taxes or we'll get audited because a copy is sent to the IRS. How do we handle this situation, as I refuse to pay taxes on this? Sorry this is long-winded, but just wanted to make sure I put all of the facts in.
