Jury Duty Pay: Is It Taxable Income?
Published November 6, 2026
Jury duty pay is taxable income. If you serve on a jury, the payment you receive from the court counts toward your income for the year. This guide shows where that income goes on your return. It also explains what to do when your employer keeps paying your salary while you serve. This is general information. It is not advice about your return.
What counts as jury duty pay
Jury duty pay is the amount a court or other government body pays you for serving on a jury. The IRS lists it as other income. Publication 525 covers it in the section on miscellaneous income. You include it in income even if the payment is small or covers only a few days of service.
Where to report it
Report jury duty pay as income on line 8h of Schedule 1 (Form 1040). Your other additional income goes on other lines of the same schedule. Schedule 1 then flows into your Form 1040. Use the line numbers from the form for the year you are filing, and check the Schedule 1 instructions if you are not sure.
When your employer keeps paying you
Some employers keep paying your regular salary while you serve on a jury. When that happens, you may have to give the jury pay back to your employer. If you must give the pay to your employer because your salary continued, you can deduct the amount you turned over. This deduction is an adjustment to income. Enter the amount you repaid on line 24a of Schedule 1 (Form 1040).
This rule only matters when your employer paid your salary during your service and you gave the jury pay back. If you kept the court payment, there is no repayment to enter on line 24a.
Your court payment record may show one total for your whole service. Use that total for line 8h. If you repaid only part of it, use the repaid amount for line 24a, not the total.
Keep two records: the court payment and the amount you gave to your employer. Keep both with your tax papers for the year.
An example
Dana serves on a jury for five working days. The court pays her a set amount for each day. Her employer keeps paying her regular salary during those days, so Dana gives the full court pay to her employer. Dana adds the court pay to her income on line 8h of Schedule 1. She then enters the same amount on line 24a as a repayment. The two entries cancel out, so the court pay does not change her taxable income. This example uses made-up facts. It shows how the two lines work. It is not a result for any real return.
Common mistakes
- Leaving jury pay off your return. The IRS counts it as income, even for a few days of service.
- Putting the repayment on the income line. Jury pay goes on line 8h. The repayment goes on line 24a.
- Taking the deduction when you kept the pay. The deduction applies only to pay you gave back to your employer.
What to do next
Gather the court payment record. If your employer kept paying your salary, find out whether you must give back the jury pay. Keep a written note of the amount you repaid. Write the court pay on line 8h. If you repaid any part of it, write that amount on line 24a. To see how these lines fit with your other income, read our guide to Schedule 1 additional income and adjustments.
Upload your documents and answer a few simple questions. Your preparer reviews every deduction and credit and lets you know when your return is ready to sign.
Sources: Sources: IRS, Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income, Jury duty and Miscellaneous income (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p525.pdf) This is general information, not advice about your specific return.
