Ohio Attorney General Wants Tax Protections For Unemployment Fraud Victims

This year's tax season means 1.7 million 1099-G forms will go out to Ohioans, requiring them to declare unemployment benefits as income. 

The forms will be mailed to people who received those benefits as well as those who didn’t, but the state attorney general is concerned about that.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asks in a letter to Ohio’s Congressional delegation that Congress suspend collection of taxes, fees and interest on these unemployment benefits while claims are being investigated.

“Eventually, we see that they actually did get those benefits, then that can be added in at a later time," Yost says. "But at least for now, that we don’t put people in a position that they have to pay taxes on money that they never received."

In the federal pandemic assistance program for people who don’t normally qualify for unemployment, half the claims have been flagged as possibly fraudulent. Even Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said they’ve been notified that claims were made in their names.

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