Your employer gives you a $25 gift card for doing a good job. Or perhaps everyone receives a $50 gift card at Christmas. Maybe the company gives employees a $10 coffee-shop card as a small thank-you after a difficult week. Surely something that small does not count as taxable income. Unfortunately, federal tax law does [...]
Getting hurt at work can create an immediate financial problem. An injured employee may be unable to work, may face medical treatment and rehabilitation, and may begin receiving workers’ compensation benefits in place of an ordinary paycheck. That raises a practical tax question: Do you have to pay federal income tax on workers’ compensation benefits? [...]
Childcare can be one of the largest expenses facing a working family. Parents may pay thousands of dollars each year for daycare, preschool, babysitters, before- and after-school programs, or summer camps simply so they can go to work. The federal tax code provides some relief through the Child and Dependent Care Credit under Internal Revenue [...]
Plasma donation centers have become increasingly common across the United States, and compensation can make donating plasma attractive to people looking for some extra money. Centers may offer different payment amounts depending on how often a person donates, promotional incentives, or other factors. That raises a surprisingly complicated-sounding question: Do you have to pay taxes [...]
Losing a job can create an immediate financial problem. Unemployment benefits can help bridge the gap while a worker searches for another position. But receiving unemployment compensation can also create a less obvious problem: Federal income taxes. Many taxpayers understandably assume that unemployment benefits are tax-free because the payments come from a government unemployment program. [...]
Most taxpayers understand that wages are taxable. Business profits are taxable. Interest and dividends are generally taxable. Rental income can be taxable. Even prizes, gambling winnings, and bartering transactions can create federal income tax consequences. But what happens when the money itself comes from illegal activity? Can the federal government really require someone to pay [...]
Smartphones have blurred the distinction between business and personal life. An employee may use the same phone to answer a client's call, respond to a work email, check a personal text message, call a family member, and look at directions on the drive home. If the employer pays for that phone, does the employee have [...]
Serving on a jury is one of the basic responsibilities of American citizenship. Unfortunately, performing that civic duty can also produce a small and easily overlooked federal income tax issue. Courts commonly compensate jurors for their service. The amount may be modest, particularly compared with the wages a person might lose by missing work. Nevertheless, [...]
Finding a wad of cash in an old piece of furniture sounds like good luck, not a taxable event. Finding valuable coins buried in the backyard might feel even less like “income.” Nobody paid you. You did not sell anything. You did not perform services. You did not receive a paycheck or investment distribution. Nevertheless, [...]
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