SALEM, Ore. — Roughly 33,000 Oregonians may not have received their tax form 1099-G because it was sent to the wrong address, the state Department of Administrative Services (DAS) announced Friday. A machine processing error impacted forms that were mailed out to about 27% of people who received unemployment benefits in Oregon last year.
Form 1099-G is mailed out every January and documents payments a person received from the government such as tax credits, taxable grants or, most commonly, unemployment benefits. Anyone who received unemployment benefits during the prior year will need the information from the form in order to file their taxes.
The error affected 32,960 of the 122,245 forms that were mailed out, according to a news release from DAS. Each impacted form was placed inside an envelope that already contained another 1099-G, the agency said, meaning the recipients of those envelopes were likely sent someone else's 1099-G in addition to their own, and the intended recipients of the misplaced 1099-G forms likely did not receive anything.
The error was noticed and corrected midway through the printing and mailing process, DAS said, which is why only a little over a quarter of the forms were affected. The agency said the problem was caused by a contractor, but DAS will take over to correct it.
DAS will resend all of the impacted 1099-G forms to the correct recipients, along with an explanatory letter, a process which is expected to be completed by next Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Oregonians who don't want to wait for the paper form can look up their 1099-G digitally through the state's Online Claim System for unemployment benefits. Anyone who hasn't received their form by Feb. 15 and is unable to look it up online should contact the Oregon Employment Department's Unemployment Insurance Division, DAS said.
Form 1099-G contains a recipient's name, address and the last four digits of their Taxpayer Identification Number, which is typically the same as their Social Security number. It also lists their total unemployment income, along with the federal and state tax withheld.
Anyone who incorrectly received someone else's 1099-G is asked to immediately shred it, DAS said.
“I think there is a reason to be concerned about identity theft,” said Chuck Harwood, the Regional Director of the Federal Trade Commission for the Pacific Northwest. “Not just because of this instance, but because it happens to a lot of people all the time.”
Harwood says there are several things those impacted can do, which includes checking your credit report for any new activity and to freeze your credit report altogether.
Harwood added that tax identity theft could also now be a concern.
“The other thing to do is to file your tax return before the scammer does,” said Harwood. “If you file it as soon as you get those W-2 forms in — and I know it’s a problem because your 1099 just went the wrong way, — but as soon as you get those forms, get that filed in because you will beat any scammer to the punch in terms of getting your filed in first.”