Unemployment surprises

I thought I’d send a quick note to those in transition concerning a recent experience I had.

I was out of work for most of 2004 and like most people, collected my Illinois unemployment checks. I’ve been back to work since Jan 3rd of this year (its gong great! Thanks for asking!J) Last week I received a notice or audit from IDES that I had reported income from my previous employer totaling five weeks and I owed the State $2,200. I thought about it all weekend and knew something was not right.

I called the number supplied and in discussing it with the IDES rep I realized the dates they had corresponded to dates were I had exercised some soon to expire stock options. Fortunately, I had all the transaction confirmations pulled together for tax reasons so I was able to fax them in on Monday. By Friday I had received the letter clearing me of all obligations.

The biggest thing for me was I didn’t see it coming so I spent about 3 days stressing. Bottom line: between taxes and IDES, good record keeping is critical. It was even more important on my taxes but that’s a happier story for another time.