Tax season is fast approaching — and recipients of unemployment benefits in 2021 don’t appear to be getting a tax break like they did for 2020.

In general, unemployment benefits count as taxable income. American Rescue Plan Act (a relief law passed last March by Democrats) authorized a waiver of federal taxFor 2020, receive up to $10,000.0 in per-person benefits Numerous states offered relief, too.

Housing qualifiedFederal waiver for those whose income, minus benefits, was less than $150,000

Congress has not passed legislation to provide a tax cut similar to the 2021 benefit and it doesn’t appear to be poised.

These households may be liable for any tax owed or receive less in refunds if they didn’t withhold federal taxes from their benefit payments.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused the U.S. to see its highest unemployment level in 2020. sinceThe Great Depression. Around 40,000,000 people were eligible for benefits in that year. On average they received $14,000 per person. accordingThe Century Foundation. According to the group, however, less than 40 percent of payments were subject to taxes.

Last year, it is not clear how many recipients received assistance. According to Labor Department, nearly 21 million people were able to receive benefits in the week ending February 20, which was the peak of 2021. data.

Since then, however, both the U.S. job market and economy have recovered. End of December saw claims for unemployment benefits. fallen to pre-pandemic levelsThis is a nearly fourfold decrease from the start of the year. The 4.2% rate of national unemployment is now at its lowest point since February 2020.

For thousands of eligible households for the American Rescue Plan tax relief, the IRS continues to process tax refunds. Many taxpayers filed their taxes before President Joe Biden signed it, which means they overpaid.

This agency has identified over 16 million taxpayers who could be eligible for a refund, or to have any overpayments applied towards taxes or other debts. Agency issuedAs of December 28, 2018, $14.5 billion in tax refunds had been sent to more than 11.8 million households. In 2022, the IRS will focus on even more. complexReturns on taxes