Pay Taxes on Court-Awarded Damages?

If you are involved in a lawsuit and awarded damages, the IRS may require you to pay taxes on the funds you receive. It depends on whether the money can be considered income.

If the damages are awarded to compensate you for financial losses, the money theoretically makes you whole. Therefore, no taxes are due. However, if the damages are “punitive” — to punish the defendant beyond any of your financial losses — then you will most likely owe taxes on the income.

Some awards are a combination of the two, and there is the potential for any situation to be much more complicated.

And the Winner is You… and the IRS [MSN Money]

Updated October 25, 2007 and originally published October 22, 2007. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.

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Flexo, the founder of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter. View all articles by Flexo.