You must choose two on the California form for type of work you can do, I assume you are referring to that section. I chose Mystery Shopper for the first (when you do the search button it lists two Mystery Shopping options and I chose the first one). The second I searched Compliance (I first tried Compliance Auditor but there were no options for that job title). The system gave three or four options and I think the first sounded the most like my work so I chose that. This question I assume is more about job searching than benefits but still needs to be answered to submit.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2020 11:37PM by wwin.

So far I have just looked at the rules for PUA filing in California. I see that Steve and Wwin both seem to be well versed in the format. So to make sure I understand what people are saying...

Do I need to complete my 2019 tax form before filing or can I just estimate my mystery shop earnings NET! after taking out reimbursements and mileage?

It says I need to report my earnings from my employers based on the company name on the paycheck??? So I do not save those checks and many are just deposited directly. I know a few companies that send checks in the mail have a different name on them than what we generally know those companies as. Where would we get that information or did they not even ask that when you filled in the form?

Am I truly my last employer? That would make it easier as I know my name.

As a disclaimer I do not have any other earnings from work in 2019 or 2018..only mystery shopping.
Thank you to those who came before me and already figured this out.

I am in Michigan. I applied for unimployment in early April. At the time I filed, there was not a PUA option. I listed myself as my employer, as that is the case. All my ICAs indicate that I am NOT an employee of the MSC, so I could not legally/honestly list anything else. Since I have no W-2 wages, I was disqualified from the state unemployment benefits, but was advised to keep checking back. A few days later, the PUA info was up. Most of my information had migrated to the new application, but I did have to re-enter my bank info for DD. I had the option of submitting my 1099s to show income to qualify for a higher benefit amount, but I did not have to if I was comfortable with the state minimum of $160 a week; I did not have my 1099s handy, so submitted without and am not inclined to add them at a later time. I certified for the week of March 15, since the 15th was the last day I had completed shops as scheduled (shops I had signed up to complete after the 15th were canceled or could not be completed due to state restrictions). I was advised that I would need to certify again in two weeks. I did so. Then on this Saturday just past, I had to certify for the next week, which I did. I received a message stating what my benefit amount would be and that I would receive payment on the next business day. No payment on Monday, but I had to certify for the next four weeks, with a message after each week's certification stating what the benefit amount would be and that I would receive payment on "the next business day." No payment on Tuesday, either. I did get a very nice chunk of change in my bank account less than an hour ago (12:30 AM ish on Wednesday). Two weeks (both in March) of the minimum unemployment amount in my state ($160) minus what appears to be a reduction of 50 cents for every dollar of money I earned during that benefit week (I have gotten out to do at least one ff shop each week since, so I am reporting that I'm underemployed, not unemployed, due to Covid). For the first four weeks of April, I received my state minimum minus the 50 cents per dollar earned, plus the $600 federal amount. I had very little trouble accessing the website (there is a "waiting room" when I first get on the website and am automatically transferred after 45 - 60 seconds to the sign-in page). My only "problem" was that it took what felt like a long time (maybe 10 minutes) for the text with a code to enter on the website to verify my device. The first time, the code came almost immediately; after the second time, I have not had to get a new code to sign in. I have to recertify in two weeks time for additional weeks if I am not making more money. Most of the MSCs that I am contracted with have very few jobs available and the ones that are offered are not plentiful enough to make a route of and not close enough to go out to do singly.

Has anyone in WISCONSIN gone thru the PUA application process and been approved yet?

You do not have to have filed your earnings this year for 2019. They are asking for the 1099 form that you have received (for the work you did in the year previous) which says 1099 for 2019. @sandyf

Yes, you are your last employer if you have only been doing your independent contractor work. Your address is your work address. If you select you are an IC it doesn't ask for your wages from your employers (that I remember). The only amount asked for is your net income from 2019. Since my taxes aren't going to be done any time soon I answered to the best of my knowledge and have 1099's to backup my numbers in case there are any questions. -I hope that helps. Remember you can save your work at any step and return to it later if you get stuck.

@sandyf wrote:

So far I have just looked at the rules for PUA filing in California. I see that Steve and Wwin both seem to be well versed in the format. So to make sure I understand what people are saying...

Do I need to complete my 2019 tax form before filing or can I just estimate my mystery shop earnings NET! after taking out reimbursements and mileage?

It says I need to report my earnings from my employers based on the company name on the paycheck??? So I do not save those checks and many are just deposited directly. I know a few companies that send checks in the mail have a different name on them than what we generally know those companies as. Where would we get that information or did they not even ask that when you filled in the form?

Am I truly my last employer? That would make it easier as I know my name.
.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2020 02:18PM by wwin.

@wwin wrote:

Yes, you are your last employer if you have only been doing your independent contractor work. Your address is your work address. If you select you are an IC it doesn't ask for your wages from your employers (that I remember). The only amount asked for is your net income from 2019.

Yes; for most people, it seems like when you choose the appropriate classification it grays out the employer section so you don't need to report that. I helped 3 different friends through the forms yesterday and all got submitted with slightly different results, because everyone's circumstances are slightly varied.

If you worked as an employee at all in 2019 there's a good chance CA EDD has that in their system. Two of my friends has taken small "gigs" that were technical employment. Both of those jobs that were one or two day assignments that paid a few hundred $$, and they showed up on the form. The new system automatically populated the data at least. You just need to know what your earnings were...

@sandyf; Your application should be pretty simply if you had no standard employment, but feel free to PM me if you run across any issues.

Good luck to everyone in getting your assistance settled!

Does anyone know if receiving this $600 will affect a persons Medicare payments next year?

I'm not sure what you mean by Medicare payments. Do you mean co-pays and deductibles, or premiums?

It is taxable income; intuitively, if taxable income affects Medicare, then, yes, Medicare will be affected.

But if you are correctly reporting and paying taxes on your mystery shopping income, the impact should be minimal. At least, in my case, I suspect my taxable income will be above last year's, and my deductions less -- because I'm literally not racking up any mileage deduction. But the fact they are deducting 10% should offset that additional tax liability -- well, not offset it, but cover it, so that I won't owe a chunk of change to Uncle Sam next April.

The answer may be on Medicare's website.

When filling out the forms if you don't have 1099's can you just use your schedule C that was filed with taxes?

I guess so. I chose not to do that, because my net (taxable) income wouldn't have been enough to qualify me. You could just list all the MSCs you contract with.

@mnarteach wrote:

When filling out the forms if you don't have 1099's can you just use your schedule C that was filed with taxes?

I only got one 1099 which was later retracted due to the fact that the msc had at first included reimbursements. I had income over $600 from another msc but they claimed if they use paypal they do not have to send a 1099. But in fact if you earned any money and have to file a 1040 due to total income above the filing limit you still need to report income on your mystery shopping whether or not you got a 1099. Bottom line I roughly figured out what my total net income from mystery shopping (my only work related income) and reported that number. I just filed yesterday so have not heard back yet but most of us get very few 1099's due to the nature of the business where we work with multiple msc every year and many do not hit the $600 mark so figuring out your total msc $$ will be much more accurate a figure to report than using the few 1099's you may have gotten.

@mnarteach wrote:

Does anyone know if receiving this $600 will affect a persons Medicare payments next year?

Hi mnarteach, If the $600 weekly is considered taxable income then yes, it will affect your medicare. The income brackets where you have to pay more for your medicare are quite broad so if you are bumping up against the top of the income bracket you were in last year then it might be in your interest to figure out how much more income you will get including the $600 and how much more you will have to pay for medicare if you move into the next bracket. Do not forget to consider the fact that your real earnings for this year including any investment earnings may be much lower this year than last so even if you were near the top of the bracket last year, you may be far from it this year when all is said and done.
For all the rest of you it is a little known fact that folks earning higher incomes have to pay more than the well advertised $146 or so per month for medicare. I personally went into the higher bracket after my husband died as it is based on income from the prior year. So suddenly I was in an income bracket for one person rather than the near double income bracket for two when my income for the year he died remained the same as our previously combined income because he was very much alive and earning most of that year and not in any way expected to die until the day of.

Idaho just announced that they won't be getting to people that filed as self employment, gig workers until the middle of May for our unemployment benefits. That they are backed way up with the w2 people.

Thanks SandyF you totally understood what I was trying to say and you explained it perfectly.

I just wanted to follow up on what became of my PUA app to the California EDD. I applied on the 29th and was given an ID #. I wrote it down. Today I went to sign in to my account to see if there was any action yet. Evidently the ID numbers are 10 digits but the one I wrote down is 8 digits. I searched for an email that might have the ID but none exist even in my trash. My account is now frozen. So I called the tech help number which by the way was very difficult to find. I was on hold for about 40 minutes but once the person answered instead of looking up my ID # he told me I was already certified and he would request my 5 weeks of back money to be sent today. Well that was the fastest way to get to the head of the line!. Otherwise I think I would have been waiting several weeks to get to that point if my ID # was correct and I had been able to get into my online acct..

sandyf that's great news. The 8 digit number when you registered was a confirmation number. The 10 digit number needed to log in to check your account status is supposed to come in the mail within a week. I haven't received mine yet. EDD said they would be certifying within 48 hours but there doesn't seem to be a way for people to check online until that 10 digit number comes in the mail. It's good to know yours went through OK.

Hi. If anybody has gone through the process in New Jersey, could you please message me or respond here? There seems to be a lot of specific info on the unemployment website, but I still can't figure it out.

My main source of income is from regular full-time employment (W-2). I continue to work for this employer and collect my pre-pandemic wages. However, I have also been mystery shopping part-time for several MSCs the last few years. I typically only grossed a few thousand annually (and only a few hundred after expenses). I have not been able to shop since the state lock-down, and not having that extra cash is hurting.

I have not filed my 2019 taxes yet, but I have prior tax returns with my schedule C earnings, and I have two or three 1099-s from 2019.

I believe I'm supposed to be denied for regular state unemployment (since I still have a full-time income from my regular employer), but should (hopefully? maybe?) be able to get the weekly state minimum for gig workers/ICs, at which point the federal $600 should also kick in.

I tried filling out the online application, but got stuck in a couple of places and aborted the whole thing (you cannot save and return later). The two main issues (so far) were:
(1) I can't find any job classification that even remotely resembles anything relating to mystery shopping/consulting/merchandising/IC work etc. No matter what key words I put in, it just gives me a list of absurd options.
(2) The system automatically lists my full-time employer (from prior tax returns), and then it basically forces me to claim lay-off/reduction of hours/reduction of salary for that employer. However, my full-time job remains unchanged. I don't seem to be able to get past that screen without claiming something that simply isn't true. I just want to claim my loss of income from mystery shopping.

Does anybody have any advice or insight? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

@wwin wrote:

sandyf that's great news. The 8 digit number when you registered was a confirmation number. The 10 digit number needed to log in to check your account status is supposed to come in the mail within a week. I haven't received mine yet. EDD said they would be certifying within 48 hours but there doesn't seem to be a way for people to check online until that 10 digit number comes in the mail. It's good to know yours went through OK.

Yes; I read that they were just going to automatically certify and pay everyone without requiring them to log in, until they get the bugs out of the online system.

Ohio won't have it's PUA system setup until mid May. I filled out the preregistration form online and apparently they will contact me when it's setup. I receive both W2s and 1099s. I was denied regular unemployment benefits because my merchandising job as an employee was very part time last year. I was scheduled to work more regular hours this year and then the pandemic happened, so I took leave of absence. Guess we will see what happens.

So they just flat out told you you're a second class citizen? Wow. Well, at least they're upfront about it. I guess.

@sueac101 wrote:

Idaho just announced that they won't be getting to people that filed as self employment, gig workers until the middle of May for our unemployment benefits. That they are backed way up with the w2 people.

Kenzie from what I understand Unemployment Insurance is for those who are unemployed. Evidently you can also get it if you are underemployed. Not knowing what your income is from your regular job that you still have I would assume the few thousand you earn a year is a small percentage of your total income. I do not know the percentage of loss necessary but I doubt you would qualify since you still have your regular full time job. I do not live in New Jersey but I would be surprised if you qualified. No harm in trying and maybe someone from NJ will chime in.

I've been reading all through this thread and reading my state website. It's seems complicated to me but then I've never filed for unemployment. All my work has dried up just like everyone else. I'm retired and do this to supplement my SS. If my earnings aren't enough to get any unemployment do I still qualify for the $600 pot of money? My state says: You do not have to apply for the $600 additional compensation. You will automatically receive this CARES Act benefit if we determine that you are eligible for any unemployment benefit program. It's not clear to me what happens if you don't initially qualify for unemployment. If I understand everything I've read in this thread it is possible that I could qualify for the $600? Am I understanding this correctly? Thanks for your help in understanding.

@sandyf wrote:

Kenzie from what I understand Unemployment Insurance is for those who are unemployed. Evidently you can also get it if you are underemployed. Not knowing what your income is from your regular job that you still have I would assume the few thousand you earn a year is a small percentage of your total income. I do not know the percentage of loss necessary but I doubt you would qualify since you still have your regular full time job. I do not live in New Jersey but I would be surprised if you qualified. No harm in trying and maybe someone from NJ will chime in.

Yeah, under normal circumstances I certainly wouldn't qualify. Things just are so different now, and they seem to be handing out money left and right. My loss of income from mystery shopping might be the same amount as someone who works a regular job and had their hours cut. Seems unfair that one is considered ineligible and the other gets state benefits PLUS the 600 weekly when each lost the same amount of money.

On a side note, that 600 weekly irks me when it's handed out in absurd cases. Like an18-year-old kid who lives with his parents and has never worked a day in his life, claims he had a minimum wage job lined up that fell through due to the pandemic. He's now receiving a minimum of 2,400 a month (plus the state benefit) for playing Minecraft all day. WTF??? And people who lost income from IC work that they have paid taxes on for the last decade are ineligible because they have another job?

If you do not qualify for UI, no $600 per week. It is tagged at supplemental UI only.

So if I have been initially denied UI because I haven't made enough then I won't qualify for the $600? Is that correct? So I won't qualify for anything. I don't know how much my state requires for you to qualify for UI. I did apply under the independent contractor status.

mnarteach, I am in Calif and said I earned around $3500 last year. I have no idea what the cut off is but I did qualify. That was my only "wage" type earnings. If you applied a few weeks ago before the PUA separate site was set up in your state it would be a good idea to try again on the PUA section. I think some states were throwing the independent contractors out before they had the official PUA site set up.

I'm in MN and everything is set up. I filed the initial paperwork Fri. I clicked the independent contractor link and followed the directions. I was denied and it says that I haven't sent in proof of wages. When I filled out the forms there was only a box to check that said you would send something in and then I had to write what proof I would send in. There was no way to upload them to the site. I have not "officially" received the denial letter in the mail but I can look at it online. I'm not sure where or how I am to send the information. The letter says that they will adjust when they get the required information or I can file an appeal. I have read and searched online until my mind is boggled. Maybe this is standard procedure but you would think that they would have a place to upload these documents online. Maybe they will send me the address for this info when I get the decline letter. So to me this means I do not qualify? or do I if they get the info? The PUA is supposed to be automatically looked at without any further filing. I'm not sure what it all means. I've gotten the most info from our forum but I'm confused!

In Idaho, they finally put a PUA to upload documents on April 25, which I did. Idaho says self employed/gig workers will get a $148 per week from state and $600 per week PUA.
But we won't know for sure what if anything we will be getting until after the middle of May.

Again a different state, but did you put your own name in as your employer? In California when I changed to my name from one of the msc names I first input it deleted the whole rest of the page of questions about who, when and where and what I was paid and I did not have to send or promise to send anything. Also it might make a difference if you actually reported mystery shop income in 2018 and/or 2019. We are supposed to do so on schedule C but from the many questions on this subject there are still definitely those who do not think they have to report their income unless they get a 1099. They are looking for income reported to the IRS previously and they seem to have been able to access my 2018 tax form immediately.