What you can appeal
You have the right to appeal decisions we made regarding your account, such as:
- Your tax rate.
- A penalty we have charged you.
- Our decision to allow an employee unemployment benefits.
- Our audit findings, if we audited your business. Learn how to appeal audit findings.
How to appeal a decision
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Gather an appealable document
Before you file your appeal, you must have an appealable document from us. For example, if you:
- Want to appeal the amount of taxes or penalties, your Notice of Assessment is your appealable document.
- Disagree with a benefits decision, the written decision we sent to you is your appealable document.
If you do not have an appealable document or you need more information, contact our Account Management Center at 855-829-9243.
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Submit your appeal
Your appeal must be in writing and must include all of the following:
- Your business name.
- Your Employment Security Department number (ESD number).
- Your address and phone number.
- The reason you disagree with our decision.
Submit tax appeals
You must postmark your letter within 30 days of the date on the appealable document we sent you, and mail it to:
Employment Security Department
Tax Appeals
P.O. Box 9046
Olympia, WA 98507-9046Submit employee unemployment benefits appeals
You can file an appeal online through eServices.
What happens after you appeal
If we cannot change our decision, a hearing or proceeding is the next step. We will send your appeal to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) to start this process.
About the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH)
OAH is a separate agency that holds hearings and proceedings for appeals. After we send them your appeal, they'll contact you by email or mail. If your contact details change, please update both us and OAH.
You can find more information on the OAH Participant Portal under "Manage My Case."
OAH will assign a judge to your case
After reviewing your case, the judge will make a decision. They'll upload the decision to the OAH Participant Portal and mail a copy to you.
Learn more about OAH hearings on the unemployment page of their website.
Telephone hearings
If OAH cannot handle your appeal quickly, they'll:
- Schedule a telephone hearing.
- Send you a 'Notice of Hearing' letter with the date, time and instructions for the hearing.
- Send copies of your file to you, your witnesses and any interested employers.
After you receive the Notice of Hearing, you can use the OAH Participant Portal to track your appeal.
If you did not get a Notice of Hearing but believe OAH received your appeal, call OAH at 800-366-0955.
Before your hearing
While waiting for your hearing or proceeding, you can still work with us on your appeal. If you have more information that might help us resolve your issue, you can send it to us. We can change our decision up to 48 hours before your hearing.
What to expect from your hearing
During your hearing, you may need to:
- Give testimony under oath.
- Question witnesses.
- Present evidence or testimony to support your case.
If you do not attend the hearing, the judge may rule against you.
What happens after your hearing
Based on the evidence and testimony from the hearing, OAH will make a decision. They'll send it to us within 5 days of the hearing. We usually update your claim within 1 week of receiving their decision.
If the judge rules in your favor
We will adjust your account according to the findings in your case. In many cases, you will not owe any back taxes, penalties or interest. In some cases, OAH may modify the findings of your audit. This means that some of your tax debt is removed and some is not.
If the judge rules against you
If you disagree with the judge's decision, you can file a petition with the Commissioner's Review Office. The decision includes instructions on petitioning.
If you owe us money but cannot pay the full amount due
Contact our Account Management Center at ESCtax@esd.wa.gov to set up a deferred payment contract.