Employees May Be Eligible For Tax Refunds From State

Jan. 15, 2002
No. 02-02

Labor Department advises eligible workers to apply for refunds

Employees who had excess taxes deducted from their share of unemployment insurance contributions in 2001 may apply for a refund, Ed Flanagan, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, announced today. 

"An employee who worked for more than one employer in 2001 may be eligible for a refund if the total taxes deducted exceeds $132.60 from all employers combined," Flanagan said. "These taxes are usually designated as 'ESC,' 'ESD,' 'UI,' or 'SUI' on the employee's W-2 form." 

To obtain forms for requesting refunds, contact the Employment Security Tax Office in Juneau at (907) 465-2757 or call toll free at 1-888-448-3527 or write to the Department of Labor, Employment Security Tax Office at P.O. Box 115509, Juneau, AK 99811-5509. You may also email your form request to esd_tax@labor.state.ak.us or download the form from the Department's Web site at labor.alaska.gov/estax/home.htm. Requests for refunds must be made by December 31, 2002. 

The Employment Security Division of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development is responsible for collecting taxes for the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. Unemployment Insurance taxes are collected from both employers and workers in the state to fund the payment of unemployment benefits. Alaska is one of only three states where the employer and the worker share the responsibility for building the reserves from which unemployment benefits are paid. The employee's share for 2001 was 0.52 percent of the taxable wage base of $25,500.

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