I collected unemployment benefits in 2020. I did not have federal taxes withheld from them. Will I still get another refund from the IRS?

[bretmcgaughey]

I filed my taxes before the unemployment benefits were exempt  from taxation.

[xmasbaby0]

You might still get an additional refund since you filed while all of the unemployment was taxable and your return would have been calculated with all of the unemployment being taxed.  Do nothing.   WAIT.

If you are eligible for the extra refund for federal tax that was withheld from your unemployment the IRS will be sending you an additional refund sometime during the next several months.  TurboTax cannot track or predict when it will be sent.  The IRS has not provided a way for you to track it, so all you can do is wait for the refund to arrive.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/how-do-i-get-the-new-unemployment-benefits-if-i-ve...

Please read this very recent news from the IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-to-recalculate-taxes-on-unemployment-benefits-refunds-to-start-in-m...

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-begins-correcting-tax-returns-for-unemployment-compensation-income-...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-credits-and-deductions/help/am-i-eligible-for-a-new-credit-or-...

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2020-unemployment-compensation-exclusion-faqs

You *might* need to amend your state return for unemployment that was taxed by your state.

https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/state-tax/602307/taxes-on-unemployment-benefits-a-state-by-state-gui...

[rjs]

Yes, if your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), not including unemployment, is less than $150,000 you will get an additional refund. The IRS will recalculate your tax return and send you the additional refund. It might take several months to get it. It doesn't matter that you didn't have tax withheld from your unemployment. You still paid tax on it. For more details see the following IRS announcements.

IRS to recalculate taxes on unemployment benefits; refunds to start in May

IRS begins correcting tax returns for unemployment compensation income exclusion

IRS sending more than 2.8 million refunds to those who already paid taxes on 2020 unemployment compe...

[Anonymous]

Champ,

It's now 2022 and I still have not gotten this $1020. I am less than 1/3 of $150,000.  I got my refund back from the state of Minnesota but not Uncle Sam. 

[ErnieS0]

Have you checked Where's My Refund? 

The IRS can research the status of your refund if it has been more than 21 days since your return was accepted and you still have not gotten your money. Call 1-800-829-1040. Be aware. The phone lines are backed up. The IRS opens at 7 a.m. local time in every time zone. The earlier you call, the better your chance of speaking with someone.
 

@Anonymous

[Anonymous]

It's not that my return wasn't accepted.  I filed before they retro-actively changed the unemployment tax to 0 on the first $10200.  So I over paid on taxes for my 2020 tax and still have not gotten my over payment refund.  This was supposed to be automatic.

[rjs]

@Anonymous 

Did you meet all the requirements to get an additional refund for the unemployment exclusion? You should have gotten an additional refund 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.

Did your 2020 tax return (as filed, without the unemployment exclusion) show a refund or a payment due? If it showed a refund, did you get that refund?

[Anonymous]

Yes line 16 is more than 0. It's over 2000.

As already stated I'm way less than $150,000 AGI. 

My return was accepted on February 17, 2021 for 2020 taxes which was almost a month before they retroactively changed the 2020 unemployment tax laws, so no I did not receive the tax deduction for unemployment.  Plus this should not be a surprised.  There are several people out there who do personal tax returns who will tell you all the returns they did in February and they still have not seen their unemployment refund for overpayment. 

The only real extra complexity that was added to my return as a maxed out HSA.