The lapse in pandemic unemployment benefits was averted last week when President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion economic aid package.
The version that initially passed the Democratic controlled House in February would have upped weekly enhanced unemployment benefits from $300 to $400 and extended it through late August. But the version that Senate Democrats passed, and that ultimately landed on Biden’s desk, kept the benefit at $300. That final version, which was signed into law, extended the benefit a bit longer, going into early September.
To clear up any confusion, Fortune put together a guide to what benefits unemployed Americans are entitled to through the latest stimulus package.
What’s the current status of weekly unemployment benefits?
The bill signed into law last week extended enhanced $300 weekly unemployment benefits through the week of Sept. 6. Without legislation, the benefits would have expired the week of March 14.
The $300 weekly payments will automatically be paid to jobless Americans who are on state unemployment rolls or covered by federal pandemic unemployment benefits, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance—which includes jobless part-timers, self-employed workers, freelancers, and independent contractors.
Enhanced weekly benefits are paid on top of state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. For instance, a worker in New York who gets the maximum UI state benefit of $504 per week would receive a total of $804 per week.
What about tax forgiveness?
The relief package includes a provision that grants federal tax forgiveness for up to $10,200 in unemployment benefits paid in 2020. That means individuals won’t have to pay federal taxes on $10,200 of the unemployment benefits they received last year. The tax waiver is for households that earn less than $150,000 in adjusted gross income. This forgiveness only applies to federal taxes—not state.
Eligible taxpayers who already submitted their 2020 returns might have to file an amended tax return in order to claim the waiver. However, we’ll have to wait for IRS guidance before that is certain.
While jobless Americans are getting federal tax forgiveness for 2020 benefits, there are no guarantees for benefits paid this year. If they can afford it, Harvey Bezozi, a certified public accountant in Florida, says jobless Americans should have federal taxes withheld from their unemployment payments.
“The way things seem to be going with eradication of the coronavirus and strengthening of the economy, it’s a safer bet for unemployed workers in 2021 to elect to have at least 10% withheld from the unemployment benefits they receive. Most likely, with the help of the standard deduction ($12,550 for single filers and $25,100 for married joint filers), no additional taxes will be due, and a refund will be issued for most or all of the taxes withheld,” Bezozi tells Fortune.
PUA and PUEC are extended
The $1.9 trillion package extends Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits from March 14 to Sept. 6.
PUA expands who is eligible for unemployment benefits to include people like business owners, part-timers, and freelancers.
PEUC grants additional weeks of jobless benefit coverage once recipients exhaust their state benefits. The relief package ups PEUC to a total of 53 weeks of extra unemployment coverage.
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