Report jury duty pay on your 1040 by entering it on Schedule 1, Line 8h (“Jury duty pay”). The total from Schedule 1, Part I, Line 10 then carries over to Form 1040, Line 8. The attendance fee is fully taxable as ordinary income, no matter how small the check, and the court does not withhold anything before paying you.
The Exact Line on Your Return
Jury pay does not go directly on the 1040. It routes through Schedule 1 (Additional Income and Adjustments to Income) first. On the 2025 Schedule 1, Part I has a dedicated slot: Line 8h, labeled “Jury duty pay.” Put the taxable amount there.1Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule 1 (Form 1040) You do not need to write a description; unlike the catch-all Line 8z, jury duty has its own line.
The Part I total on Line 10 then transfers to Form 1040, Line 8 (“Other income from Schedule 1, line 10”).1Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule 1 (Form 1040) From there it folds into your total income and your AGI. Tax software does this transfer automatically. If you file on paper, check that the Schedule 1 subtotal actually landed on Line 8 of the 1040.
One thing not to do: don’t put jury pay on Schedule C. The IRS directs it to Schedule 1, which keeps it outside the self-employment tax calculation entirely.2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income You owe ordinary income tax on it, and nothing else.
What Amount Goes on Line 8h
Only the attendance fee, the flat daily rate for showing up, is taxable. Reimbursements for mileage, parking, and meals are not. The IRS treats those as reimbursements of the costs of a civic obligation rather than compensation for services, so they stay out of gross income.3Internal Revenue Service. Chief Counsel Memorandum INFO 2008-0037 – Federal Tax Treatment of Jury Duty Pay
If your court check lumps the attendance fee and travel reimbursements together, separate them before you report. The court’s payment stub or summary usually breaks the two apart. Only the fee portion belongs on Line 8h.
Whether or Not You Get a 1099-MISC
Courts issue Form 1099-MISC when a juror’s attendance fees hit $600 or more in the calendar year. Most people serve a few days and earn far less, so no 1099 arrives. Report the income anyway. The reporting obligation does not depend on receiving an information return. Keep your payment stub or check record as proof of the amount.
If you served on a long trial and the court did send a 1099-MISC, the gross amount typically appears in Box 3 (“Other income”) and may include both the attendance fee and travel reimbursements combined. Report only the fee portion on Line 8h. If the IRS later flags the difference between the 1099 and your return, your court documentation showing the split resolves it.3Internal Revenue Service. Chief Counsel Memorandum INFO 2008-0037 – Federal Tax Treatment of Jury Duty Pay
If You Turned the Check Over to Your Employer
Many employers keep paying your regular salary during jury service and require you to sign over the court’s check. When that happens, you still report the attendance fee on Line 8h. Then you cancel it out with a matching deduction on Schedule 1, Part II, Line 24a, labeled “Jury duty pay (see instructions).”2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income The net effect on taxable income is zero.
The deduction on Line 24a is an adjustment to income, so it works whether you take the standard deduction or itemize. Adjustments from Schedule 1, Part II flow to Form 1040, Line 10 and reduce your AGI directly.1Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule 1 (Form 1040)
Keep a receipt or pay stub showing you handed the money over. If your employer instead deducted the jury pay from your paycheck rather than having you endorse the court check, the return mechanics are identical: report the income on Line 8h, deduct the same amount on Line 24a.
Nothing Was Withheld, So Plan Ahead
Courts do not withhold federal income tax, Social Security, or Medicare from jury payments. The check is the full gross amount. For a few days of service the tax owed is small and gets absorbed when you file. But if you serve on a lengthy federal trial and the daily fees add up over weeks or months, consider adjusting your W-4 at your regular job or making an estimated tax payment so you’re not surprised at filing time.
What Happens If You Skip It
The IRS matches 1099s filed by courts against what taxpayers report. If a court filed a 1099-MISC for your jury pay and it doesn’t appear on your return, expect a CP2000 notice proposing additional tax. A CP2000 is not an audit and not a final bill. It’s a letter saying the IRS believes something was left off and proposing an adjustment, with interest calculated from the original due date.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 652, Notice of Underreported Income – CP2000
Agree, and you pay the proposed amount. If the omission is large enough to count as a substantial understatement, the IRS can add an accuracy-related penalty of 20 percent of the underpayment.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments For a typical few-hundred-dollar jury check, the penalty risk is low, but interest keeps running if you ignore the notice. Responding on time, even to dispute the figure, stops the process from escalating.