People across Massachusetts are facing a new unemployment problem after the state sent them a surprise tax bill for unemployment benefits they never received. This is happening despite multiple people saying they did everything possible last year to alert the state that unemployment claims filed in their names were fraudulent.Melinda Cashman could not believe it when she received a 1099-G from Massachusetts this week, telling her she owed taxes on $10,555 in unemployment. The problem: she never received that unemployment income.”I’ve had enough. Enough! And this shouldn’t even be an issue because I dealt with it immediately after I got the letter. I just don’t get it,” Cashman said. “What you are supposed to do?” Last spring, Cashman received a letter from the state saying someone was filing for unemployment in her name. Right away she says she notified the state the claim was fake by filling out the online fraud form. She has the confirmation letter to prove it. She says she also spoke to someone and was told she was all set.The unemployment agent told her “all you have to do is file, fill out the form, and you’re all set,” she said. “I’m furious and apparently the fraud that they said stops automatically on your account, didn’t stop.”It’s the same story for Christina Votto, who notified Massachusetts of a fraudulent unemployment claim on her account and has the letter from the state dated last June to prove it. “We did everything we were told to do,” Votto said. “We went immediately and filled out the forms online. I was lucky enough to talk to someone.”Yet she was also sent a 1099-G from the unemployment office telling her she owed taxes on about $6,700 in unemployment benefits she never received. “I thought I was done. I thought I was safe. I thought whatever had happened was in the past and that I should be all set, that the state was taking care of it for me,” Votto said. “They were aware that this fraud was happening, and that they were on top of it.”Apparently not.Newscenter 5 heard from people all over the state facing the same issue, including Votto’s husband Joe, who says he’s been employed the entire time, never received an unemployment notice last year, but just got a 1099 for $12,000.”This is a government form. I’ve got to fill out my IRS taxes this month,” he said. “When I file, I’ve got to pay taxes on $18,000 or $20,000 of income that I didn’t receive.”The IRS just issued a statement saying it’s up to the state to fix the mess. It says taxpayers in this exact situation should contact their state unemployment office to get a corrected 1099-G, since that’s where the forms came from. But everyone tell us it’s nearly impossible to get answers from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance or even get anyone on the phone.”I need documentation,” Christina Votto said. “I need a corrected 1099-G or something that I can put in with my paperwork, you know what I mean?””I can’t get someone on the phone that…
Go to the news source: State sends surprise tax bills for unemployment money never received
