Covid Unemployment Benefits..

[Retirement_Rookie]

Greetings, has anybody else encountered this problem? I retired a few years back, got bored, and opened a consultancy in Europe. I have a U.S. government pension but am 58 and DO NOT draw social security. My consultancy, which is heavy on expenses, last year netted just less than $15,000 a year, on which I paid U.S. taxes. However it's dried up with the Covid Crisis.

I seem to be eligible for covid unemployment benefits as an independent consultant but don't know how to answer the question about income when I apply for the benefits. Should I include just my net income from my consulting business (which is the only income I've lost) or should I include my net income from my pension as well? I obviously am not trying to get benefits for my pension, just for my consultancy, and I want to obey US law. Has anybody else dealt with this? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[youbet]

What state are you applying to?

 

[Retirement_Rookie]

Massachusetts, which is my state of tax residence.

 

[SecondCor521]

I think it would just be the consultancy business income, probably the average over the recent past, not what it is now. But that's just a guess from SGOTI.

 

[Retirement_Rookie]

Thanks, that was my thought too, but they ask me for my "complete income" and I don't want to be untruthful.