Not everyone will benefit from that exclusion ...
You will get a federal income tax refund for the unemployment exclusion if all of the following are true.
- You reported unemployment benefits as income on your 2020 tax return, on Schedule 1 line 7.
- You did not get the unemployment exclusion on the 2020 tax return that you filed. The unemployment exclusion would appear as a negative amount on Schedule 1 line 8, with the abbreviation UCE on the dotted line to the left of the amount.
- Your tax on Form 1040 line 16 is not zero.
- Your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), not including unemployment, is less than $150,000. In other words, Form 1040 line 11 minus Schedule 1 line 7 is less than $150,000.
If all four of those conditions are true, The IRS will recalculate your tax return and send you the refund. It might be a couple of months before you get it. For more information see the following IRS announcements and FAQ.
IRS to recalculate taxes on unemployment benefits; refunds to start in May
IRS begins correcting tax returns for unemployment compensation income exclusion
IRS continues unemployment compensation adjustments, prepares another 1.5 million refunds
2020 Unemployment Compensation Exclusion FAQs
