Tax season is rarely a party, but if you spent any part of last year collecting benefits from the New Jersey Department of Labor (NJDOL), things get a little more complicated. You’re looking for a specific piece of paper: the NJ 1099 G unemployment form.
Honestly, it’s basically just the government's way of telling the IRS, "Hey, we gave this person money, and you should probably tax them on it." If you’re staring at your mailbox waiting for it to arrive, you might be waiting a long time.
New Jersey has gone mostly digital with these.
Where the Heck is My NJ 1099 G Unemployment Form?
Most people assume the state just mails these out like a birthday card. Nope. Not anymore. While the NJDOL says they’ll email you if they have your address on file, the most reliable way to get your hands on it is to go hunt it down yourself online.
By law, these forms have to be ready by January 31st. If it’s February and you haven’t seen it, it’s already sitting in your online portal waiting for you.
To get it, you’ve gotta log into the NJ Unemployment Insurance (UI) dashboard. You’ll need the same login you used to certify for benefits. Once you’re in, look for a tab labeled "My Account" and then a sub-menu for "Tax Forms." It's a bit of a click-heavy process. You click "Tax Form," read a page about why taxes matter, click "Continue," read another page, and finally, you get to select the tax year. It feels like the digital equivalent of walking through three different doors to get to a single desk.
The "Paper Copy" Exception
Can't get online? Maybe you forgot your password, or your account is locked because you entered the wrong PIN three times. It happens. You can call the Reemployment Call Center.
Just a heads up: be prepared to wait.
- Freehold: 732-761-2020
- Union City: 201-601-4100
- Cumberland: 856-507-2340
If you request a hard copy over the phone, it usually takes about 10 days to show up in your mailbox.
Understanding What’s Actually on the Form
When you finally open that PDF, it looks like a standard tax form, but two boxes matter most.
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Box 1 shows the total unemployment compensation paid to you during the calendar year. This is the "Gross" amount. Even if you only received money for three weeks, if that money hit your bank account between January 1 and December 31, it’s on this form.
Box 4 is the one people often forget. It shows how much federal income tax was withheld. If you chose the "10% withholding" option when you first applied for benefits, that number will be reflected here.
The Overpayment Headache
Here’s a weird quirk that trips people up: overpayments.
If the state accidentally paid you too much money and you had to pay it back, your NJ 1099 G unemployment form might still show the higher, "wrong" amount. Federal law requires the state to report the total funds actually paid to you, regardless of whether you returned them later.
If this happens, you don't necessarily change the 1099-G. Instead, you usually deal with it on your tax return using IRS Publication 525. It’s annoying, but it’s the way the system is built.
What if the Form is Just Wrong?
Maybe you never even filed for unemployment, but you got a 1099-G anyway. That’s a massive red flag for identity theft.
Scammers love filing fake claims in other people's names. If you get a form for money you never saw, do not just ignore it. You need to report it to the NJDOL immediately through their Fraud reporting portal.
If the amount is just slightly off—maybe by a few hundred dollars—double-check your bank statements. The 1099-G tracks when the money was paid, not the weeks the money was for. If you got a payment on January 2nd, 2026, for a week you were unemployed in December 2025, that money won't show up until your 2026 tax form next year.
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How to Handle This on Your Tax Return
Unemployment is treated as "ordinary income" by the IRS. You’ll report the amount from Box 1 on Schedule 1 of your Form 1040.
The good news? New Jersey is one of the few states that does not tax its own unemployment benefits. So, while Uncle Sam wants a cut, Trenton stays out of your pockets for this specific income.
Make sure you keep a copy of this form for at least three years. If the IRS decides to audit you or asks for proof of income, this is the document they’ll want to see.
Quick Checklist for Success
- Check your email: Search for "1099-G" from a
nj.govaddress. - Log in early: Don't wait until April 14th to find out you're locked out of your account.
- Verify Box 4: Ensure the taxes you thought were being taken out actually were.
- Download as PDF: Save it to your computer immediately so you don't have to log back into the NJ system.
If you’re having trouble logging in, try clearing your browser cache or using a different browser like Chrome or Firefox. The NJDOL site can be a bit finicky with older versions of Safari or Edge.
Once you have the form, the hardest part is over. Just plug those numbers into your tax software and move on with your life.
Next Step: Log in to the NJ MyUnemployment portal right now to see if your form is available for download under the "My Account" tab.