Filing income taxes if you experience fraud

Worried about paying income taxes on unemployment benefits you did not claim? Learn what to do if this happens to you.

How unemployment fraud happens

Criminals use stolen personal information to:

  • Open a new unemployment benefits claim in your name.
  • Fraudulently file for weeks on your current unemployment benefits claim.

How to check for unemployment fraud

Make sure you received all benefit payments that we paid you. To see benefit payments we paid, log in to eServices and choose "weekly summary."

If you don't have eServices, use our contact information at the bottom of this page.

When to report fraud

If you claim unemployment benefits, we will send you a 1099-G tax form. You will use this form to pay taxes on unemployment benefits when you file your income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Report fraud if:

  • You get a 1099-G form for unemployment benefits that you did not receive.
  • You filed for unemployment benefits, but your 1099-G includes benefits for weeks you didn't claim.

After you report fraud

We investigate each fraud report. What we do depends on what we find.

Do not submit another fraud report if you get an incorrect 1099-G while we investigate. This means that we didn't finish our investigation before Jan. 1.

If our investigation ends before Jan. 1

If we confirm fraud before Jan. 1, you either:

  • Will not get a 1099-G.
  • Will get a 1099-G that only shows the weeks you actually claimed.

In either case, file your taxes.

If our investigation ends after Jan. 1

If we confirm fraud after Jan. 1, we'll send you a corrected 1099-G. Use this form to file your taxes. Your corrected 1099-G will show either:

  • $0 in benefits if someone opened a new claim in your name.
  • Benefits for only the weeks you claimed if someone used your account to file for some weeks on your claim.

When to expect a corrected 1099-G

Our investigation might not end by tax filing day on April 15.

If you do not receive a corrected 1099-G by April 15, file a tax return and report income you received. You can also contact the IRS about other options.

IRS resources

Call the IRS at 800-829-1040. You can find these resources on their website:

Information to include when emailing us

  • Name.
  • Customer Identification Number (CID), which you can find in eServices or on letters we send you.
  • Current mailing address.
  • Date of birth.
  • Phone number, including area code.