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Can I accept a contract job temporarly and not jeopardize my unemployment? ?
Posted by brian in Unemployment HELP on Sep 5th, 2010 | 5 responses


I am currently am on unemployment and was offered a sizeable job $1500 to do a website. I would like to claim this but I am afraid of jeopardizing my entire claim. I have already reported on contract job for $500. I live in the state of california.
Thanks for your responses. I am happy to pay taxes and report this. I am worried, however, that this will cancel my entire claim. Since I don’t have full-time employment, this is a concern to me.

Image taken on 2009-09-29 10:34:49. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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5 Responses to “Can I accept a contract job temporarly and not jeopardize my unemployment? ?”

  1. Worldly25 says:
    September 5, 2010 at 8:25 am

    Well if you do not claim it now. It will show when you file your income taxes and then you could be charged with fraud.

  2. Tim says:
    September 5, 2010 at 8:54 am

    Legally you would jeopardize the unemployment.

    Practically, no one would know.

  3. hailey says:
    September 5, 2010 at 9:44 am

    Sometimes it is just better to NOT TELL everything! Do the job take cash for payment, and enjoy life.

  4. HurricaneJuss says:
    September 5, 2010 at 10:35 am

    If you are capable of working, I am quite frankly disgusted that you would pass on the opportunity to keep cashing in on taxpayer dollars.

    If you don’t accept this job in favor of living off of taxpayers, I would take a look in the mirror, and then Google “Work Ethic”.

  5. v b says:
    September 5, 2010 at 11:07 am

    Here’s how stupid this is.

    You don’t tell California and collect a whole bunch of unemployment. You file your taxes showing both the contract work and the unemployment income and pay taxes on both.

    The following year, California runs it’s matching programs and figures out you didn’t report all your income and asks for some of the unemployment money back. You pay them.

    Then you realize that you’ve now paid tax in 2008 on money you paid back in 2009. You don’t amend the 2008 return (after all, you did get the money) and you get a schedule A deduction for 2009. (Most people get no reduction in tax for this deduction.)

    Worse, you later become unemployed again and find that California won’t let you apply for unemployment due to fraud on your case history.