Retirement tax questions

The entire amount is taxable, including the portion sent to the attorney, since that is your money awarded for your damages, that you happen to pay to an attorney.

 

The amount of lost wages should be reported on a W-2, and is subject to social security and medicare tax.  If the company does not issue a W-2, you can file your taxes with a substitute W-2 form.

 

The compensation for pain and suffering is only non-taxable if the pain and suffering arose from physical injuries.  Since you were not compensated for physical injuries that occurred at work, then it is clear that the "pain and suffering" is for the improper termination, and is taxable.   The amount set aside for the attorney is also taxable to you.  These two amounts should be reported on a 1099-MISC. 

 

The attorney fees are not deductible by you unless this was a lawsuit for unlawful discrimination (UDC).  There are many kinds of discrimination claims, and if you are unable to work due to a physical or psychological condition and they did not make appropriate accommodations, this might be an UDC case.  You may need to ask your attorney.  You must report the entire settlement as taxable, and then deduct the fee in writing in a specific way, you can't just leave the attorney fees off.  To properly deduct UDC, you need to make manual entries on the tax form using Turbotax Desktop version installed on your own Mac or PC from a download.  You can't deduct UDC attorney fees using Turbotax Online.  If this is not a UDC case, the attorney fees are taxable to you and not deductible.  

 

To put another way, the company is settling over something they did.  They did not cause the injury, so the settlement is not for the injury, but the wrongful termination.