People should be on the lookout for identity theft involving unemployment benefits

Taxpayers whose identities may have been used by thieves to steal unemployment benefits to file a tax return claiming only the income they actually received.
Some taxpayers applied for and received unemployment compensation from their state. By law, unemployment benefits are taxable.

Scammers also took advantage of the pandemic by filing fraudulent claims for unemployment compensation using stolen personal information of individuals who had not filed claims. Payments made as a result of these fraudulent claims went to the identity thieves.

Taxpayers who receive an incorrect Form 1099-G should contact the issuing state agency to request a revised form. If they’re unable to get a timely, corrected form from states, they should still file an accurate tax return, reporting only the income they received. They should save whatever documentation they have regarding their attempts to receive a corrected form from their state agency.