TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With so many Floridians back to work, putting unemployment and the CONNECT system behind them is goal number one. Goal number two is to file their taxes, but many told ABC Action News they are having trouble getting their 1099-G forms to be able to file.
"I’m so stressed out, it’s ridiculous,” said Pamela Sowards, who received unemployment in 2020 and 2021. “I mean like you said, yes I want to file my taxes, it’s getting close, I’m six weeks away.”
That April 15 deadline looms and Sowards said she can’t even get into her account to print off her 1099-G, which means she can’t file her taxes.
“I honestly didn’t know what to do and one of my friends even said, 'you ought to find one of those places that does investigative reports,'” she said.
That’s when she reached out to ABC Action News. We’ve sent her info into the DEO as well as ID.Me to get her that form. Both recognized our e-mail and said they will reach out to Sowards but so many others are in the same position.
“Some of these Floridians cannot get into their accounts, others have not been unemployed for quite some time so their logins have changed. And of course the website continues to crash,” said State Representative Anna Eskamani, from District 47.
That’s what Sowards said she’s had to deal with when she attempts to sign in. She said the site gives her an error and now she’s locked out of her account. Eskamani said her office has sent people's info in so the document can be printed. She said that’s sometimes easier than getting a claimant back into their account.
“We have had a lot of conversations of concerns about ID.me but at this point, we have not heard the state or the Department of Economic Opportunity debate this at all,” Eskamani said, about the identification company that has been the gatekeeper into CONNECT since last January.
We reached out to the Department of Economic Opportunity, they said make sure pop-ups and firewalls are disabled, and Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on your computer but as for folks who have already been approved through ID.Me, the DEO did not offer any guidance on where else to turn and wouldn't confirm if local Career source offices can print them for you. We did find on the DEO's website, you can request a duplicate 1099-G form through the help center.
Eskamani said it is ridiculous that Floridians are still dealing with issues.
“It’s been two years since this pandemic started and we’re still seeing issues with Florida’s broken unemployment system. It’s incredibly frustrating, our office continues to provide the support we can but it really is unacceptable that these problems have continued to persist.”
The Florida DEO has this 1099-G IRS tax form information sheet listed on its website.
Click here if you are having trouble getting your forms. ABC Action News is compiling a list to send to DEO.
