Wednesday, March 15, 2017

General Eligibility Requirements for Unemployment Insurance Benefits in Illinois/ Taxes



It seemed like a slow day as I spent almost eight hours sitting in the library. I had a lot to do today including working on my 2016 taxes. The taxes are particularly complicated because I lived and worked in Japan from January to mid-October last year.  I didn’t take advantage of it, but there is free tax advice/filing assistance via IRS volunteers for those who meet certain qualifications (income under $54,000, limited English, etc.):


In connection with the above, please note that any unemployment benefits you receive are likely subject to income tax. Nothing will be withheld from the weekly benefit amounts you will receive unless you elect to do so.

I realize that I might have gone out of order for Illinois unemployment insurance benefits in my posts. First, all you need to know is in the handbook and the website here:



Next, as a quick primer, from page 4 of the above-linked handbook, the general eligibility conditions for unemployment insurance benefits in Illinois are:

1. You are unemployed through no fault of your own.

2. You were paid $1,600 or more in wages during your base period for insured work.

3. You were paid at least $440 of your base period wages at any time during the base period outside the calendar quarter in which your wages were highest.

4. You are registered for work with IDES.

I’ll go into the details of filing for the above once I go through the motions.

Other than the above, while walking to school with Mimi and Boo today, I ran into the mother one of their classmates and chatted a bit about my situation. Like me, her husband is a lawyer, and she was happy to give advice such as places to contact like the local bar association as well as different legal job search sites. Meeting people like her, that is, people willing to give a hand to near strangers, feels good. If we keep networking like this, we’ll be out of this predicament before we know it!

Day Twelve Lessons:

1. Unemployment Insurance Benefits are Taxable

2. Again, Keep Networking!

Total Contacts Reached Out To: 35

Total Applications: 32

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