What income is taxable? Nontaxable?

Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service TT-2008-30

Generally, most income you receive is taxable. But there are some situations when certain types of income are partially taxed or not taxed at all. A comprehensive list is available in IRS Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income.

Some common examples of items that are not included in your income are:

Adoption Expense Reimbursements for qualifying expenses

Child support payments

Gifts, bequests and inheritances

Workers’ compensation benefits

Meals and Lodging for the convenience of your employer

Compensatory Damages awarded for physical injury or physical sickness

Welfare Benefits

Cash Rebates from a dealer or manufacturer

Tax Exempt Interest from municipal bonds and tax

exempt bond mutual funds. Although this interest is usually not taxed it must be reported on line 8b of Form 1040 or 1040A.

Examples of items that may or may not be included in your income are:

Life Insurance. If you surrender a life insurance policy for cash, you must include in income any proceeds that are more than the cost of the life insurance policy. Life insurance proceeds paid to you because of the death of the insured person are not taxable unless the policy was turned over to you for a price.

Scholarship or Fellowship Grant. If you are a candidate for a degree, you can exclude amounts you receive as a qualified scholarship or fellowship. Amounts used for room and board do not qualify.

All other items, unless specifically excluded by law, must be included in your income. This income may be in a form other than cash. For example:

Bartering. Bartering is an exchange of property or services. The fair market value of goods and services exchanged is fully taxable and must be included on Form 1040 in the income of both parties.

These examples are not all-inclusive. For more information, visit the IRS Web site at IRS.gov to view or download Publication 525 from the Forms and Publications section or call 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Remember that for the genuine IRS Web site be sure to use .gov. Don’t be confused by internet sites that end in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov. The address of the official IRS governmental Web site is www.irs.gov.

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