I overpaid my 2015 taxes. They sent me a check for the overpayment. Do I have to declare that as income in 2016?

[MinhT · Accepted solution]

No, a tax refund is not income and you do not have to report it.

[vjs20]

For federal taxes, the refund is not income.

If you received a refund on your state income taxes, then that refund is reportable as income on the federal tax return - if you deducted state income taxes the previous year. Were that not the case you could lower your federal taxes by overpaying (and deducting) state taxes.

On the other hand, if you did not deduct your state income taxes on your federal return, then you do not report a refund you received.