Help Wanted: Job or jobless benefits at 77?

DEAR CARRIE: I was laid off from a full-time job at a local hospital after 11 years. But I still have a part-time job, which I began two years after starting at the hospital. I work three hours a day, five days a week and make $12.55 an hour, which works out to about $376 before taxes every two weeks. Because of this job, I was unable to collect unemployment benefits after I got laid off in November.

My unemployment benefits would have been $405 a week, based on earnings from the hospital job. In December, when my current employer had a big layoff, I really wanted to be let go so I could collect unemployment benefits. But I wasn't. If I resign, could I qualify for benefits? I would still seek employment because, even though I am 77 years old, I am computer-literate. -- Benefits Quandary

Click here to read more on unemployment benefits and part-time work at bit.ly/zJ6Y3X

DEAR BENEFITS: Unfortunately, you wouldn't be able to collect because generally you cannot qualify for unemployment benefits if you resign.

"An employee who resigns from employment without good cause is ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits," said attorney Ellen Storch of Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo in Woodbury.

Sometimes when employees lose their primary jobs, they can qualify for partial unemployment benefits, even if they continue to work a part-time job, Storch said.

But you didn't qualify because you work five days a week. Even though you make less than the weekly unemployment-benefit maximum of $405 -- also a requirement for eligibility -- each day or part of a day you worked would have reduced that benefit by a quarter. So you would have received nothing.

DEAR CARRIE: We live on Long Island, and my wife has a consulting job in addition to a regular full-time job. She works from home as a part-time consultant designing lights for a New Jersey company. The employer provided her with a computer. Should she pay New York or New Jersey taxes on the money from that job? And what other taxes should we pay on that money? I don't want her to think this extra cash is totally tax-free. -- Which Taxes?

DEAR WHICH TAXES: I asked two government agencies for help: The IRS and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Here's the IRS' answer:

"The income looks like it would be considered self-employment income. Self-employed individuals generally are required to file an annual return and pay estimated tax quarterly. Self-employed individuals generally must pay self-employment tax . . . as well as income tax. [Self-employment] tax is a Social Security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves. It is similar to the Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of most wage earners. In general, anytime the wording 'self-employment tax' is used, it only refers to Social Security and Medicare taxes and not any other tax [such as] income tax . . . "

She's subject to those taxes if her net earnings total at least $400 a year, the IRS said. If her annual net earnings from that job ever fall below $400, she would still have to to file an income tax return if she met other filing requirements on the 1040 form, according to the IRS.

Here's what the state said:

"As a New York resident, your reader is subject to New York tax on her income and is required to file a return and pay income taxes to New York State. New Jersey's Tax Department would have to explain their rules. Generally, states have residency requirements for income taxes to be applicable."

Click here to find more on self-employment and federal taxes at 1.usa.gov/AjFBMN