Expanded unemployment under the CARES Act created a new federal unemployment program that provided funding to the states called the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which gave unemployed additional unemployment benefits until July 31, 2020 and could also be applied for through the state where you worked. Expanded unemployment benefits under the CARES Act included an additional $600 per week in unemployment until July 31, 2020 and allowed self-employed to file for unemployment.
Under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, the second relief plan to expand unemployment, unemployment benefits were extended by issuing $300 a week for 11 weeks until March 14, 2021. The bill also afforded an additional $100 a week to earners who had a mix of income types. If you earned your income both as an employee and a freelancer or a contractor (doing side gig work for example) you fall into this “mixed earners” category. Certain workers who had at least $5,000 per year in self-employment income, but were disqualified from receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance because they also had an employer could have been eligible for the additional $100 per week in unemployment benefits.
The first stimulus that was passed in March banned benefits for the mixed earner category of workers. The second provision also covered part-time workers, self-employed, and others that had fallen into a gray area for unemployment benefits.
Under the American Rescue Plan signed into law on March 11, 2021, unemployment payments increased by $300 per week and the benefits were extended through September 6, 2021. The bill also made the first $10,200 of unemployment income tax-free for households with income less than $150,000. This provision is retroactive only to tax year 2020(the taxes you file in 2021), helping millions of unemployed save on their taxes.