Official Site of The State of New Jersey
FAQ: Paying federal income tax on your Unemployment Insurance benefits
Although the state of New Jersey does not tax Unemployment Insurance benefits, they are subject to federal income taxes.
If you collected unemployment benefits in the previous calendar year, you must report those benefits as income on your current federal tax return.
To do that, you will need your 1099-G tax form. You may have received this form in the mail or electronically to the email address we have on file.
If you don’t have a copy, you can still access your 1099-G form online in the two following ways:
- Logging into your account (for current or previous tax years’ form)
- Logging into your claim status (for the current tax year’s form only)
Click here to log in to your account. The screen will look like this:
Click the “Web 1099-G” link at the bottom of the left-hand menu:
Read the security notices and click the "Continue" button:
On the next screen, click the "Continue" button to see a dropdown menu of available tax years. Choose the year that you need for your 1099-G form.
Only choose this option if you need a copy of your 1099-G for the most recent tax year.
Click here to log in and view your Claim Status page.
The fourth self-service option in the list is "2022 1099-G." Click the "Get Started" button next to that option.
Enter your email to receive a digital copy of your 1099-G, then hit the "Submit" button.
If you can't access your 1099-G online using the instructions on this page, you may contact your Reemployment Call Center to request a hard copy. Depending on the day your request is received, it will take 10 days or more to receive it via regular mail.
Follow the instructions in Option #1 under the "How to get your Unemployment Benefit Tax Forms (1099-G)" tab on this page. After you log in to your account, you will be able to select a year and view your 1099-G from past years.
If you received a 1099-G this January but did not receive Unemployment Insurance compensation payments in the previous calendar year, you may be a victim of identity theft. Please report your case of suspected fraud as soon as possible online or by calling our fraud hotline at 609-777-4304. We recommend consulting the IRS website or your tax preparer for instruction on how to note on your tax return that you were a victim of fraud, and that you should not be responsible for paying taxes on the income. Read more about Unemployment Identity Fraud here.
Your 1099-G reflects the total amount paid to you during the applicable tax year, regardless of the week that payment was for. So if you received payments this year for unemployment benefits that were due to you from a previous year, the income from those payments will appear on your 1099-G for this year (the year the benefits were received).
If you were overpaid benefits, your 1099-G will still reflect, per federal law, the amount of funds paid to you, regardless of any funds you have returned. Please refer to the section titled “Repayments” in the IRS Publication 525 Taxable and Nontaxable Income for guidance on how to report overpayments/returned funds.
If you still believe the amounts on your 1099-G are incorrect, call a Reemployment Call Center and let the agent know.
While the state of New Jersey does not tax unemployment benefits, these benefits are subject to federal income tax-this includes all state and federal pandemic related unemployment benefits.
When you submit your initial unemployment application, you can choose to have 10 percent of your weekly benefit withheld and sent to the IRS.
You can also select or change your withholding status at any time by mailing a Request for Change in Withholding Status form to us at:
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Unemployment Insurance
PO Box 908
Trenton, NJ 08625-0908
If you certify for your benefits online, you will receive a confirmation screen that provides the gross and net amount of your payment, the amount deducted for any refunds or garnishments, tax withheld on your payment, and tax withheld year to date. It will also give the remaining balance on your claim.
NJ Unemployment’s FEIN number is 22-2481818. The address is: New Jersey Department of Labor, Unemployment Insuranc,e PO Box 916, Trenton, NJ 08625-0916.
Your form 1099-G, Income Tax Statement, which documents the amount of Unemployment Insurance benefits paid and the amount of federal income tax withheld, is available in January, for any benefits you received in the previous calendar year. This information needs to be included on your federal income tax return.
For this tax year:
- If we have your email address on file, you will receive your 1099-G by email by January 30.
- 1099-G information will also be available from the Check Claim Status tool and your online account no later than January 30.
Both a federal and New Jersey Earned Income Tax Credit (NJEITC) are available to eligible taxpayers.
Workers who are eligible for the federal credit also qualify for the NJEITC. Like the federal credit, the NJEITC can reduce the amount of tax you owe, or increase the amount of your refund check. Learn more here.
For more information about the NJEITC:
For more information about the current federal Earned Income Tax Credit:
- Online
- By phone: Call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040
