January 22, 2021 - Sacramento – This month, 7.8 million individuals are starting to receive 1099G federal tax forms from the California Employment Development Department (EDD). The forms being sent are intended for individuals who collected benefits from any taxable unemployment claims during 2020. The number of 1099G tax forms being sent electronically, through the mail and posted to individuals’ Unemployment Insurance (UI) Online accounts is more than five times the usual number distributed, given the historic number of claims processed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
EDD has established the following resources for individuals who have either received this form for the first time and need guidance or for individuals who have received the form erroneously and need the issue corrected.
• Visit EDD’s Tax Information webpage for more information.
• Access a one-page guide for what you need to know about the Form 1099G.
• View a helpful EDD how-to video on our YouTube channel.
• If an individual receives a Form 1099G but did not file a claim for benefits, visit Fraud and Penalties: What You Need to Know to learn how to report fraud and find information on protecting yourself from identity theft.
• Individuals can call a line designated for Form 1099G questions at 1-866-401-2849 if they don’t agree with what they are seeing on their 1099G or believe they may be a victim of fraud. The line is available 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• As investigations continue, some people may receive mailed forms that don’t belong to them. The EDD asks these individuals to kindly mark “Return to Sender’ on the envelope and send it back to EDD.
EDD has increased contact center staff for this annual process to answer questions and help resolve issues. Claims identified as imposter fraud will be removed from the associated Security number and an amended 1099G will be provided.
Unemployment, certain Disability Insurance, and Paid Family Leave benefits are taxable by the federal government but not at the state level. The EDD also wants to make sure Californians are aware that the additional $600 federal Pandemic Additional Compensation and $300 Lost Wages Assistance payments added to benefits during the pandemic are taxable. Form 1099s are being sent through the mail throughout the rest of January for those who did not opt-in for an electronic copy only.
Resolving old backlogged claims
As of January 20, more than 99% (1,563,449) of the 1.6 million backlogged claims identified by the EDD Strike Team in September have been resolved and EDD remains on target to complete that resolution work toward the end of January. That includes Initial Claims and Continued Claims where first or further payment was pending past 21 days. Status on these older claims is reported among more recent workload in these two separate backlog dashboards.
Time extended for clearing suspended claims through ID.me
As EDD has reinforced efforts to validate identity for new unemployment claims, the department continues to review existing claims flagged as potentially fraudulent. About 1.2 million of the 1.4 million of these claimants are being directed to validate their identity through ID.me or through EDD’s manual ID verification process for those without a UI Online account.
EDD has extended the window from 10 to 30 days for claimants to verify their identity with ID.me. Those who need to take this action, should have already received an official EDD notification in their UI Online account. This extension will provide claimants ample opportunity to validate their identities before an EDD notice of disqualification is issued. As claimants have their identity verified, EDD is removing barriers on claims so payments can continue for legitimate claimants within a matter of days.
• The EDD strongly encourages claimants review the ID.me step-by-step guidance provided to fully utilize the fast and efficient self-service option for validating identity and avoid the wait times for an ID.me trusted referee via video chat.
• A phone is not required for the trusted referee process, many people use a laptop or tablet.
The remaining roughly 200,000 of the 1.4 million claims recently suspended pending further information from the claimant are either being sent a questionnaire to complete to help EDD determine if they meet eligibility requirements for continued benefits, or are receiving a Determination Notice letting them know about a disqualification and their appeal rights.
Fraud alert for Californians
Scammers continue to prey upon those in need of assistance during this pandemic. EDD has reports that individuals are impersonating EDD and ID.me to get individuals to divulge their personal identifying information. Californians should be aware that EDD does not send representatives to homes and neither EDD nor ID.me will contact individuals via social media and other websites.
• If EDD calls claimants, the caller ID may show “St of CAEDD” or the UI Customer Service number 1-800-300-5616 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• If individuals opted in for SMS text alerts, messages are sent from 510-74 or 918-06 to the phone number listed on the unemployment claim.
• For the latest developments involving benefit fraud, visit EDD’s new consolidated “Help Fight Fraud” webpage.
Source: EDD
