If you are currently unemployed and receiving Unemployment Insurance, it’s important to remember that just as when you were employed, this money is considered income and taxed by both the Federal Government and the State of South Carolina. However these taxes are not automatically taken out, which can leave you with a scary tax bill at the end of the year.

Even knowing this, it is probably very tempting at the moment to not put money aside from each UI check since you’re going through a difficult time and most likely trying very hard to keep food on the table and your bills paid as you try to transition as quickly as possible to a new job.

However, it is much worse to realize at the end of the year that you owe the State and the Federal Government because the money required by them wasn’t put aside to begin with. To avoid the temptation of keeping it all every week or not being sure of how much to take out, you can elect to have the money taken out of every UI check automatically, just as you were probably accustomed to when you were employed.

When you apply for your Unemployment Insurance, be sure to ask specifically that the necessary tax is withheld from each check. This will most likely be around 10 % for Federal tax and whatever additional percentage you choose to have withheld for State.

If you do not choose to do this, you should be aware that you may be required to make estimated tax payments. This would require finding the information in IRS Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, or the instructions for Form 1040-ES to be sure of what is necessary in your case.

At the end of the year, you will be sent a Form 1099-G showing the benefits received during the year, as well as any tax that you have chosen to have withheld. This will of course also be sent to the State and Government, at which point, if you have had enough withheld, you will not be owing any money. That’s certainly to be preferred over worrying about finding more money quickly just as you are back on your feet and moving forward in the work force, going to school, or still working hard to find employment.

So think seriously about electing to have Individual Income tax withheld each week from your Unemployment check in order to avoid problems at the end of the year.

VOLUNTARY ELECTION OF TAX WITHHOLDING ON UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FOR SOUTH CAROLINA is a post from: South Carolina Unemployment Help

Are you work ready? If you are unemployed or just leaving school, it can be difficult to know what to do to find a job. Maybe you feel you have tried everything without success of it is your first time looking for a job and need help on how to search for a job. This is the objective of South Carolina’s WorkReady Initiative. This creative employment program helps workers, their work skills, training and testing to the requirements of employers. This helps make their programs more relevant. It also helps workers meet federal programs and enjoy the benefits these afford. WorkReady also supports economic and work development programs and provides the basis for the National Career Readiness Program.

How can you access this wealth of resources? Visit www.workreadysc.com and learn what WorkReady can do for you. At the basis of WorkReady’s program is WorkKeys, an employment program that provides a skills assessment system that  has become a national movement. The desire for a statewide system arose organically within South Carolina. This is what WorkReady has to say about its beginnings and the purpose of the program.

In 1998, a small group of professionals across South Carolina’s technical colleges, WIA local areas, adult education, etc. who were already using the system formed the South Carolina WorkKeys® Users Group to identify best practices and to support each other’s efforts. As usage and group membership grew, word of the system’s success in job placement began to spread within the business community. The group continues to meet and has over 100 members, made up of administrators from the Workforce Investment system, South Carolina’s technical college system, K-12 education, Adult Education, and Job Corps. As a result of this grass-roots movement, partners across the state including the sixteen (16) technical colleges, the twelve local Workforce Investment Act areas, providers of adult education, and businesses are at varying stages of development and implementation of a skills assessment system and work readiness certificate program.

Recognizing the value of the assessment system as well as the reality of inconsistent statewide application, a number of additional groups in South Carolina including the Career Readiness Consortium, a multi-state group meeting over the course of the last three years; the Workforce Innovation Network group from the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce; the Palmetto Institute; and the Workforce Education Task Force of the Council on Competitiveness called for and helped create the push for a statewide assessment initiative. By creating a common "skills" language, this system will facilitate communication among public and agency partners, educational institutions, business and industry, and other relevant partners.

Are you interested in assessing your readiness for work? Would you like help in deciding what to do next to improve your chances of employment? Click here to find the closest WorkKeys assessment office.

South Carolina Employment Programs: Are You Work Ready? is a post from: South Carolina Unemployment Help