How does doing independent contractor work factor into my unemployment benefits?

Question

My position was recently eliminated. I am deciding whether to request unemployment benefits for just a little bit until my next job. I have many student loans, and in order to keep up with the payments on these, I would work various small jobs on the weekends in which I was paid via check, but it was for different companies and always way under $600, so nothing was ever reported. This income was not taken into account in determining what weekly unemployment benefits I would receive. If I continue to work these contract jobs, will I have to report them and have them deducted from my unemployment benefits? I will report them at the end of the year on my taxes, but how will the unemployment agency find out about them?? They do not prohibit my typical employment of 9-5 as they are on the weekends, and how will the unemployment agency be able to determine the exact dates that I worked a couple weekends if the agencies most likely won't even report this income? Please help:( Thanks.

I said my original position was eliminated....I had a regular full-time salary job. I am not avoiding taxes at all. I said I was going to be paying them in. I am saying that since my independent contractor work has been going on for awhile in order to pay for my student loans, and SINCE the unemployment office doesn't take this into account in order to determine my unemployment benefits (I already know I qualify based on my regular salary), do I have to report it to the unemployment office? It's only about $100-$200 every other week, and I'd only be on unemployment 2-3 weeks max. Again..i already said I would obviously be paying taxes on all the work come April, as I did last year.

I KNOW that independent contractors are totally away from the unemployment system. I was a full-time REGULAR EMPLOYEE for 6 years before this. On the side, I also did some independent contracting work that was never reported on behalf of those employers to the state, but I reported it on behalf of tax purposes and was taxed on it every April. However, I am wondering when I receive my unemployment benefits (from my seven years of salaried work), will my random independent contracting work need to be reported to the unemployment agency, as I have always needed this work to continue to pay for past student loans and living expenses in the past and still do now, as I was just laid off.. I WILL STILL pay taxes on this come next April. I just want to know if i have to report it to the unemployment agency, thanks so much.

Ok thanks so much for the last answer....I wasn't trying to get away with anything, just wondering if it's considered separate by the unemployment agency.

Also, what is reported on a 1099? Thanks again.

Ok - I realize that now...I was just wondering and didn't know :( Thanks to everyone who answered. I just realized that I believe I won't be eligible for unemployment benefits though because of what my employer has entered into my 401k plan....he fully contributed 15% of my income every year, and I think according to my state that this constitutes a deduction as far as to the benefits I can receive, and what my employer contributed to my 401k right now (pre-tax and penalties) outweighs my maximum unemployment benefits. Does this make sense or sound right?

Answer 1

State law determines unemployment benefits but generally an independent contractor does not pay into the unemployment system. Therefore your benefits will only be calculated on the work in which you were the employee of someone who paid unemployment insurance for you.

Answer 2

You aren't eligible for unemployement benefits if you're working as an independent contractor.

You should be declaring the income to the unemployment office, if you want benefits, and you should be declaring the TOTAL AMOUNT to the IRS, if you don't want a major tax problem in a few years.

How will they find out? I have no idea. But it's dishonest.

Answer 3

The reason that the independent jobs you did while you were working didn't affect what unemployment benefits you'd receive is that those jobs are not covered for unemployment, no u.c. taxes are paid on them, and no benefits are paid either.

You are legally required to report income that you have while receiving unemployment benefits, to the u.c. people. If you don't report them, you might not get caught, since they might not find out, in which case you did something illegal but got away with it. If you do get caught, you'd have to pay back the unemployment that you got illegally, plus other possible penalties.

Your call. It's between you and your conscience.

Answer 4

You will have to fill out a for on a weekly basis which specifically ask if you worked at all and how much you made. If you don't report the weekend work, it will be considered fraud.