Question: Someone I know received unemployment income in 2009. I told him that unemployment income was taxable and he is required to report it to state and federal tax agencies. He maintains that he won't need to file taxes for 2009, since he did not work the entire year. I think that many individuals in this situation also believe they are not required to file taxes. What are the facts?

Answer: Unemployment benefits are taxable by both the federal and state governments.

However, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is making the first $2,400 received in 2009 exempt from federal tax.

When the Internal Revenue Service announced this tax break last March, it noted that a record 5.6 million people were receiving unemployment benefits.

“;This change offers a helping hand to millions of Americans who are out of work and struggling to make ends meet,”; IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said at the time.

Anyone who received unemployment benefits last year is eligible for the $2,400 exemption when filing their tax returns this year. For married couples, each spouse would qualify if each received the benefits.

Unemployed workers had the choice of having income tax withheld from their benefits. Those who didn't may end up having to pay the IRS this year.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Taxation considers all unemployment benefits as taxable income.

As with all federal tax provisions enacted in a specific tax year, the state administration must offer a bill the following legislative session to adopt or not adopt the provisions, explained Denise Inouye, supervising income tax specialist with the state Department of Taxation.

Until the state adopts a federal provision, it is not applicable to Hawaii taxes. In this case, the federal $2,400 exemption is not likely to be adopted this year.

In general, Inouye said, “;Until the state advises otherwise, do not assume that the state will automatically adopt a federal provision. Report your income until information is released by the Department of Taxation that the income is exempt from taxation.”;

Question: Recently, I've been buying wine and noticed that I'm not assessed the recycling beverage fee. Aren't wine bottles recyclable? Also, can we recycle old magazines?

Answer: You can recycle wine bottles via residential curbside recycling bins or community recycling bins, but they're not part of the state's Deposit Beverage Container Program.

That program imposes a fee on certain beverages and containers to give consumers an incentive to turn them in for a refund (see hsblinks.com/1v9).

Since you don't pay the five-cent refundable recycling fee and one-cent non-refundable handling fee when you purchase wine, hard liquor or milk, you can't redeem the containers at recycling sites.

House Bill 1975 was introduced during this legislative session to add wine and hard spirits to the definition of “;deposit beverage,”; but it already has been shelved in committee.

Meanwhile, magazines with glossy pages are not recyclable. If you can't find someone or some organization to give your magazines to, the city advises just tossing them into the regular trash, where they will be burned at the HPOWER waste-to-energy plant.

Write to ”;Kokua Line”; at Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).