#Middlebury
(Wethersfield, CT) – Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL) Interim Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo on January 7, 2022, reminded federal Extended Benefits claimants that due to the state’s declining unemployment rate, the program will end in Connecticut on Saturday, January 8, 2022. Additionally, the agency is posting 1099 tax documents to claimant accounts and will mail the documents to claimants within the next couple of weeks.
Commissioner Bartolomeo said, “Connecticut’s economy is steadily recovering—Extended Benefit filers have been re-entering the labor force over the past month and the state’s overall unemployment rate continues to drop. The backbone of the economy is a healthy workforce; one of the most important things we can do is to stop the spread of COVID variants. If you can be vaccinated, get vaccinated—reducing sick time and limiting the reach of the virus helps keep businesses up and running and benefits our labor market recovery. If we keep the virus in check, we keep the economy on track.”
The federal Extended Benefits program assists unemployed workers during higher unemployment periods by giving filers an additional 13 weeks of benefits in addition to the 26 weeks of regular state unemployment benefits. Connecticut triggered off Extended Benefits in December 2021 when the state’s three-month average unemployment rate fell below 6.5%.
Of the approximately 38,000 weekly unemployment filers, fewer than 7,000 used the Extended Benefits program as of December 25, 2021. By comparison, during the week of November 27, 2021, more than 20,000 filers were using the Extended Benefits program. In that same time frame, the state unemployment benefit program experienced an expected uptick due to seasonal layoffs, up slightly from 24,399 to 31,003 filers.
1099 TAX DOCUMENTS
Unemployment benefits are taxable. CTDOL sends out UC-1099G tax documents to all unemployment filers in accordance with federal law. The documents are available to claimants through their online unemployment accounts (the green button) and hardcopies will be mailed before the end of the month.
The agency urges anyone who receives a 1099 but who did not file for benefits to immediately visit our fraud prevention page in case of identity theft. Since March 13, 2020, the agency has identified and held more than 100,000 fraudulent unemployment claims due to identity theft.
CTDOL Consumer Contact Center representatives are available to answer specific questions on the 1099 tax forms online or on the phone. Filers with tax questions are urged to contact their tax preparer or seek free assistance through the CT Department of Revenue Services.
