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I had a complicated claim which I had to fight for but thankfully finally got approved. The problem is the award letter shorted me on wages. I turned in all the paper work I have but I don't have the last pay stub because the employer, the one who didn't want me to apply for benefits in the first place, refused to give it to me. But I turned in my bank statement showing the direct deposit (net) of the very next pay period in question. I was paid the exact same gross amount every pay period. I just spoke to the auditor who approved my claim who is now saying they can't use the bank statement and asked if I can get the stub from the person who already refused to give it to me and who obviously will never cooperate. The difference amounts to a few hundred dollars. I've already officially disputed the award letter. I don't want to jeopardize my claim in any way so how do I fix this? Do I really have to file an appeal to straighten out simple accounting? When I called the accounting office the person I first spoke to said she could see the mistake but since she wasn't assigned to me she couldn't fix it. Ugh.
Don't muddy up the claim with an appeal at this point.
Since, CA's APB will only consider wages through the quarter preceding the date you filed, these wages must have been earned in 2012.
Therefore, wait for the employer's W-2 for 2012. By law, they must provide this to you and the IRS by the end of January.
You can then go back to CA and have them do a recalculation - which they will do and pay you retroactively when you provide the W-2 showing total wages paid by this employer.
Meanwhile, collect the benefit you've been allotted.
Heh - if you're up to it - you could file a complaint with the DOL in the State of CA. There is NO legitimate reason why this employer should refuse to provide an accounting of your wages.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 01-25-2013 at 04:00 PM..
Reason: substituted "through" for "to" in 2nd par for clarity.
Unfortunately there won't be any W-2 and I don't believe I will get anything from this employer. But I will wait a week.
Incidentally, the auditor said something that I think is wrong. Told me they count the date the wages were paid. The claim wages are "wages earned" through the last completed quarter - the pay date is irrelevant - correct? At least that's what I understand.
Unfortunately there won't be any W-2 and I don't believe I will get anything from this employer. But I will wait a week.
Why would you say this? Was FICA withheld? How are you planning to do a tax return if you don't get a W-2. You need to file this with your 1040. Report this employer to the IRS if you do not receive a W-2.
Is this employer in the habit of not complying with the Federal Tax Code? This employer MUST report all wages to the IRS and the State of California - either on W-2 or 1099. I assume this is not 1099 because those wages are not normally eligible for UE benefits as a rule.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Allby
Incidentally, the auditor said something that I think is wrong. Told me they count the date the wages were paid. The claim wages are "wages earned" through the last completed quarter - the pay date is irrelevant - correct? At least that's what I understand.
From whom do you understand that? The IRS certainly won't agree with you. The auditor was correct.
For tax, and UE purposes in establishing a claim, the wages count when they are paid.
If you worked in December, and are paid in January for December, those wages are taxable in 2013 and counted in the January quarter for UE purposes and tax reporting purposes because that is when they were paid. You would not declare those December wages on your 2012 1040 if they were not paid until 2013. They are reportable and taxable for the 2013 tax year.
Now, when you are claiming unemployment benefits and need to report income when you worked, you report the wages for the day you worked on the claim form which covers that particular day. It is irrelevant if your employer NEVER pays you for UE benefit purposes. You must report those 'earnings.'
Two different issues.
Base-year wages for a claim are based on wages paid through the end of a quarter.
Earnings when claiming unemployment benefits are reported when earned, not when paid.
It turns out we were both right. The form did come but it shows roughly half the income I earned (scumbag). But I just found out EDD fixed the disbursement amount. Although I have not gotten a new award letter or back pay yet. Hooray.
It turns out we were both right. The form did come but it shows roughly half the income I earned (scumbag).
How can that be? Was all your income from this employer paid in 2012? If so, employer must report everything they paid you in a calendar year and any amounts withheld (your money for taxes and possible refund to you) by Jan. 31 on that W-2 you just got.
If W-2 is short on wages you actually were paid in 2012 (and withholdings deducted from your wages) with payments to you on or before 12/31/2012, the employer is intentionally misreporting in order not to send your withholding taxes to the IRS for federal and FICA taxes and the State of California for state taxes. You better report these people. I'm serious. Lots of businesses in financial trouble never send their payroll tax withholdings (employee money) to the govt but, instead, keep the money to run the business. In the end, the govt goes after them for noncompliance. Nonetheless, at the very least, you are by law entitled to a correct and accurate account of wages earned and amounts withheld for calendar year 2012. Report them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Allby
But I just found out EDD fixed the disbursement amount. Although I have not gotten a new award letter or back pay yet. Hooray.
What numbers is CA using to change your award - and how have they been documented?
I have (submitted) most of my pay stubs except the last one and the rest I documented with my direct deposit statements. So I guess they realized they really could trust me since the employer has avoided EDD contact this whole time. I didn't submit any new info. They just paid attention to what was already there.
What address or method did you use to get EDD to update your wages? I am currently having a similar problem in that the employer never payed any payroll taxes to EDD so they have no record of any employment for me except for one paycheck from previous employer one year ago. I have tried sending last paystub which shows salary and wages through September of last year to several EDD addresses, told the IRS (never received a W2) but still have not had my wages updated by EDD. Is there a specific form I need to file?
EDD already had all but one of my pay stubs. I had already been interviewed by the auditor. After that I placed one more call to the auditor which was unsuccessful. During that conversation I did a lot of sputtering to let them know how unreasonable they were being but I never became angry (outwardly). Then I just let sleeping dogs lie and I finally got a call from a different auditor, probably a supervisor, who informed me that the amount had been updated.
I did not give them any additional documentation because there was none to give but they do have to have some sort of documentation. Either way I would contact the EDD Integrity & Accounting Division and tell them the problem. If you don't know who your auditor is they can direct you. When I got the award letter I let them know within the time frame by email that the amount was wrong and then followed up with the phone call when nothing happened. Hope this helps. Good Luck.
PS. You should have gotten an Affidavit of Wages from EDD to fill out and send in with your pay stubs. But you only fill it out if they send it to you.
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