Yes, jury duty pay is taxable. The IRS treats it as ordinary income regardless of whether the check came from a federal, state, or local court, and you report it on your federal return at your regular tax rate.1Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income The amounts are usually small, but the rule applies to every dollar. If your employer kept paying your salary while you served and required you to turn over the court’s check, a separate deduction cancels the tax out.
Where to Report It on Your Return
Jury duty pay goes on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Part I, Line 8h, which is labeled “Jury duty pay.”2Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 1 (Form 1040) – Additional Income and Adjustments to Income3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1040 (2025) The amount flows into your total income and then into your adjusted gross income on Form 1040. It is not subject to self-employment tax, because jury service isn’t a trade or business.
If your jury pay reaches $600 or more in the calendar year, the court will issue a Form 1099-MISC and send a copy to the IRS. Most jurors never hit that threshold, since daily rates are low and trials are short. You still owe tax on anything under $600, and you still have to report it. The IRS matches 1099s against returns automatically, so unreported income tends to get flagged either way. Skipping it can trigger the accuracy-related penalty, which adds 20% of the underpaid tax to your bill, with interest on top.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments5Internal Revenue Service. Accuracy-Related Penalty On a $75 check the dollars at stake are tiny, but the match happens regardless. Keep whatever payment voucher or stub the court gave you.
If You Gave the Check to Your Employer
Plenty of employers continue your regular paycheck during jury service on the condition that you sign the court’s check over to the company. When that happens, you still report the full jury payment as income on Line 8h, and you then claim an offsetting deduction for the same amount on Schedule 1, Part II, Line 24a, labeled “Jury duty pay (see instructions).”1Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income2Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 1 (Form 1040) – Additional Income and Adjustments to Income
This is an above-the-line adjustment, so it reduces your adjusted gross income directly and you don’t have to itemize to use it. The net result is that you’re taxed only on your regular salary for the days you served. The deduction must match what you actually turned over. If the court paid $250 and you handed over all $250, that’s your deduction. You can’t deduct more than you surrendered.
Travel and Parking Reimbursements
Money the court pays separately to cover travel or parking is generally not taxable. These are reimbursed expenses rather than compensation. The court has to account for them as a separate line item from your attendance fee. If everything arrives as one lump payment with no breakdown, the full amount is taxable.
Federal Employees
Federal employees keep their regular salary during jury service under a court leave statute that guarantees no loss of pay, accrued leave, or performance rating.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6322 – Leave for Jury or Witness Service In exchange, they must reimburse their agency for the attendance fees received from the court. Expense reimbursements for transportation and the like don’t have to be returned.7U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Court Leave On your tax return, the mechanics are identical to any other employee who surrendered jury pay: report the full fee on Line 8h, deduct the reimbursed amount on Line 24a.
State Income Tax
State treatment varies. Some states with an income tax follow the federal rule and tax jury pay as ordinary income. Others exempt it entirely, and a few offer partial exemptions up to a set dollar amount. States without an income tax, such as Texas, Florida, and Nevada, don’t tax it at all. You may end up owing federal tax on your jury check but no state tax, depending on where you live. Your state department of revenue has the specifics.