As I have been writing, gig economy, self employed workers, freelancers, and contractors like me are eligible to receive some form of unemployment benefits in the CARES Act to help them during the coronavirus pandemic.
I wanted to find out how much money will I receive and what information will I need to provide. Obviously, I am interested in requirements for Massachusetts, but the State is working with a vendor to design a totally new application system and that would not be ready till April 30, 2020, so it is impossible to know.
However, I decided to investigate if I could learn anything from what other states are requiring of us. Without getting bogged down with details by state (and to be honest, I could not research each state to the same level of detail but some of them require me to sign up and disclose that I live in that state), my conclusion is that you will obviously need the usual details (Social Security number, address, bank information, contact information, citizenship/immigration status, etc.) but it seems as if the requirements are no different than they are for others. In order to verify your income, you will have to provide a copy of your tax return or somehow document your income for last year or two. I am also expecting that you will need to confirm that you are affected by COVID-19 and cannot work. I will keep you posted.
I wanted to find out how much money will I receive and what information will I need to provide. Obviously, I am interested in requirements for Massachusetts, but the State is working with a vendor to design a totally new application system and that would not be ready till April 30, 2020, so it is impossible to know.
However, I decided to investigate if I could learn anything from what other states are requiring of us. Without getting bogged down with details by state (and to be honest, I could not research each state to the same level of detail but some of them require me to sign up and disclose that I live in that state), my conclusion is that you will obviously need the usual details (Social Security number, address, bank information, contact information, citizenship/immigration status, etc.) but it seems as if the requirements are no different than they are for others. In order to verify your income, you will have to provide a copy of your tax return or somehow document your income for last year or two. I am also expecting that you will need to confirm that you are affected by COVID-19 and cannot work. I will keep you posted.