How to Fill Out and Submit the Illinois UI-28 Refund Form

To recover Illinois unemployment insurance taxes you overpaid, file the Illinois UI-28 refund form (Employer’s Claim for Refund) with the Illinois Department of Employment Security within three years of the erroneous payment. You can download the paper form from ides.illinois.gov or submit the same request online through MyTax Illinois at mytax.illinois.gov.¹

The Three-Year Deadline

The clock runs from the date you made the payment, not the date you spotted the mistake. Overpaid Q1 2023 contributions on April 30, 2023? Your UI-28 has to be filed by April 30, 2026. After that, the money is gone, no matter how obvious the error.¹

If you suspect an overpayment but haven’t nailed down the exact figure, file with your best calculation and the records you do have before the deadline expires. A partially documented claim filed on time beats a perfect one filed on day 1,096.

When an Overpayment Qualifies

Section 2201 of the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act covers refunds of contributions, interest, or penalties paid in error. Common triggers include a math error on a quarterly wage report, paying the same quarter twice, applying the wrong tax rate, reporting wages for employees who should have been excluded, or paying on wages above the taxable wage base. Employers who reported wages to Illinois that actually belonged to another state can also file.

One bar to know about: if IDES previously assessed a contribution amount, you appealed or could have appealed, and the assessment became final, you cannot reopen it through a UI-28. Any refund is also reduced by unemployment benefits already paid to workers based on the wages at issue.¹

Getting the Form

Download the current UI-28 from the IDES employer forms page at ides.illinois.gov.² The PDF runs four pages: instructions on page 1, a worksheet on page 2, the signed claim on page 3, and a direct deposit authorization on page 4 (only needed if you want the money wired to a bank account). If you’d rather skip paper entirely, file the same request through MyTax Illinois at mytax.illinois.gov.³

Filling Out the Form

Before you start, pull your most recent quarterly wage reports and payment records for the period involved. You’ll need your seven-digit IDES employer account number and the exact legal name on the account. Enter both exactly as they appear on your contribution reports.³

Item A: The Quarter

Specify the calendar quarter and year you overpaid, using the quarter end date (March 31 for Q1, June 30 for Q2, and so on). If more than one quarter is involved, file a separate UI-28 for each.

Item B: The Payments

Enter the date of the original payment, the amount paid, and the amount you’re asking back. List each payment separately if there were several for the same quarter. IDES auditors will match your numbers against their records, so pull the exact figures from your bank statements or payment confirmations instead of estimating.³

Item C: The Reason

Pick the category that fits (such as error in report or assessment paid), and indicate whether the excess was paid as contributions, interest, or penalties, since IDES tracks those separately. Add a short written explanation. A sentence or two is enough. For example: “Employee X was reported on both the Illinois and Indiana wage reports; wages should have been reported only to Indiana.” That kind of plain description lets the auditor verify your claim quickly.

Signing

An owner, partner, corporate officer, or authorized agent has to sign page 3. The certification attests that the information is true, that you have authority to act for the employer, and that no prior claim for the same overpayment has been filed. Include your title and the date. The paper form requires an original ink signature; electronic signatures are not accepted.³

Choosing How You Get Paid Back

You have three options, and no justification is required for any of them:

Account credit. IDES applies the overpayment against contributions due in future quarters, or automatically offsets a future underpayment.
Direct deposit. Complete page 4 with your bank’s routing number, account number, the name on the account, your nine-digit FEIN, and the account type (business checking, checking, business savings, or savings), and submit page 4 together with page 3.
Paper check mailed to the address on file. Leave page 4 blank.

Where to Send It

You can submit the completed UI-28 by fax or mail. If you chose direct deposit, fax pages 3 and 4 (in that order) to 217-557-1948.³ To mail it, send to:

Illinois Department of Employment Security
Refund Unit, Floor LL2
115 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, Illinois 60603

The mailing address is in Chicago, not Springfield. You can also skip the paper form and file at mytax.illinois.gov.²

After You File

Once IDES receives the claim, the Director reviews it against your payment history and wage reports and either allows it in full, allows it in part, or denies it. Written notice goes to the address on your account.¹

Under the statute, an allowed claim is first handled as a credit against future contribution liability; a cash refund is issued when that kind of adjustment is not practicable. The current form lets you state a preferred method upfront, and that selection should govern unless IDES determines the credit route is more appropriate. IDES does not publish a guaranteed processing timeline; available data suggests anywhere from about four weeks to several months, depending on claim complexity and volume.

If IDES Denies the Claim

A denial becomes final 20 days after the determination letter unless you act. Within that window, file a written protest and petition for hearing with the Director, stating why the denial was wrong.¹

At the hearing, the Director’s original determination is presumed correct, and you carry the burden of proving otherwise. Bring copies of the wage reports in question, bank statements showing payment amounts and dates, and any correspondence with IDES about the account. The hearing follows the procedures that apply under Section 2200 for other contribution disputes.¹

If the hearing decision still goes against you, Section 2205 of the Act allows you to take the matter to circuit court. Once that judgment is final, it binds IDES: if the court orders a refund, the Director must issue it.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 405/2201 – Refund or Adjustment of Contributions
2
Illinois Department of Employment Security. Employers: Forms and Publications
3
Illinois Department of Employment Security. UI-28 Refund Request Form