# Tax Question - Jury Duty



## Chemee (Apr 15, 2007)

I read on the IRS website that jury duty pay & mileage reimbursed for travel to & from the courthouse are considered income. 

In addition to the above, my husband got reimbursed for parking garage fees that he paid.  Am I correct to assume this isn't considered income?


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## Dave M (Apr 15, 2007)

Chemee said:


> I read on the IRS website that jury duty pay & mileage reimbursed for travel to & from the courthouse are considered income.


That's correct. The jury duty pay is compensation for services performed, just as though the court is your employer. Thus, it's taxable. 

The reason the mileage reimbursement is taxable is that the travel is considered to be commuting expense, just like traveling to and from your normal job, which is considered a personal (not business) expense. Thus, the reimbursement of that personal expense is taxable. 





> In addition to the above, my husband got reimbursed for parking garage fees that he paid.  Am I correct to assume this isn't considered income?


I don't know the context. If it's in connection with his employment and is a monthly charge for working at his regular office, it's taxable. If it's for visiting other locations in connection with his job, it's reimbursable (not taxable) under his employer's expense reimbursement plan. If it's connected to the jury duty, I'm not positive without looking it up (and I'm away from home until Thursday), but I think it’s taxable. However, (again, without looking it up) I could make an argument for excluding it from income.

Assuming the total payments related to jury duty are less than $600, it's unlikely that the payments were reported to IRS. You would have received a Form 1099-MISC if they were. Thus, you're on your own to report it however you believe is appropriate.


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