Unemployment Benefits

Question

Looking around the suite there seems to be no way of linking the US unemployment benefits visa to the online account. Having the benefits is considered an taxable event as it will generate a 1099. Just wondered with the mass amount of people collecting these benefits due to the pandemic why this matter has not been addressed or intergraded, or maybe it has and I am unaware. Also is there a way to link accounts such as social security, government payments etc.? I just think that all forms of income should be covered to promote staying on top of finances no matter the vehicle in which you them.

Frankx · Accepted Answer

Hi @Mr.

I think that you may be referring to the "US Bank Reliacard" above.  If that is the case, I checked the current Quicken financial institution directory list, for that financial institution, and this particular prepaid debit card does not appear.  That means that it is not supported for download into Quicken.

If my assumptions are not correct, please provide the exact name of the financial institution that issues the card and I'll try to check that also.

In general - the financial institutions decide whether they want to make downloading of transactions available through Quicken (or other applications); it is not simply something that Quicken can do by itself. That also goes for government entities that provide benefits to taxpayers and others - they would need to make potential access to such transactions/accounts available in the correct format and under the proper security standards for Quicken to connect, etc.  And, while I agree - as would most Quicken users - that we should have the ability to download such financial information into Quicken, the reality is that we and Quicken aren't driving the bus when it comes to these issues.

Hope this helps.

Frankx

Tom Young · Accepted Answer

"Also is there a way to link accounts such as social security, government payments etc.?"You don't link to incomes like Social Security, Unemployment Benefits, Pensions, Welfare, etc., you link to the account in which the income is deposited.  
Assuming you have a checking account and the account is with a Financial Institution (FI) that allows for downloading into Quicken, then the "link" is to that checking account and as these various benefits are deposited into that checking Account you Categorize them appropriately, e.g., Social Security Benefits, Unemployment Benefits, etc.If your Unemployment Benefits are paid to you electronically onto a piece of plastic that acts like a debit card and you don't simply take that money off the card and deposit it into a checking account, then you establish that debit card in Quicken as a Cash or Checking Account and show the inflows and outflows of cash to and from that card in that pseudo-Cash or pseudo-Checking Account.  If there's no electronic way of recording those transaction into the Quicken Account, then you do it manually.