Treasury Asked To Delay Unemployment Income Form Cutoff

Treasury should give states more time to investigate fraudulent unemployment benefits claims before they have to distribute tax forms reporting that income, members of the U.S. House of Representatives said in a letter released Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury should extend the deadline for filing Forms 1099-G for individuals whose identities may have been used to fraudulently claim unemployment benefits, a group of representatives including Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, and Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, said in the letter, dated Feb. 6. Delaying the deadline would prevent states from issuing those forms to people who haven't actually received unemployment income, according to the letter.

Treasury should take other steps to make sure that victims of fraud don't get audited because of unreported unemployment benefits, the representatives said in the letter. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act expanded unemployment assistance for people financially upended by the pandemic, but that aid has given rise to fraudulent claims, the letter said. 

--Editing by Leah Bennett.

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