I pay court ordered restitution on amounts I paid taxes on years earlier, how do I get credit for these payments?

Markliner — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:28:06 GMT

I pay court ordered restitution based on amounts I claimed as income in prior years. There are no fines or penalties included. How do I claim these restitution payments on my current return?

Re: I pay court ordered restitution on amounts I paid taxes on years earlier, how do I get credit for these payments?

Opus 17 — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 19:35:52 GMT

If the amount you paid in 2021 is $3000 or less there are no deductions or adjustments allowed. If the amount is more than $3000, you can take a special itemized deduction or a claim of right credit, whichever saves you the most income tax. Generally, if your income or tax rate is higher now, take the deduction, if your income or tax rate is lower now than when you paid the tax, take the credit.

For the deduction, it is listed at the bottom of the deductions page under other uncommon deductions, on the third page (repayments over $3000). This is a special itemized deduction not subject to the 2% rule, but you must itemize your deductions (mortgage insurance, state taxes, etc.) to get a benefit.

For the credit, the amount of the credit is how much less tax you would have paid in the prior year if you had not included that income on your tax return. For example, if you are repaying $5000 of wages from 2019, you need to find your 2019 tax return and figure out what you would have paid (how much less tax or how much more refund) if you subtracted that $5000 of income. This is your credit amount and you must determine it for yourself.

Then to claim the credit you need to be using the desktop version of Turbotax installed on your own computer (not the online version) and claim the credit by making a direct entry to the schedule 3 worksheet as explained in these instructions.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/unemployment-taxes/help/what-is-a-claim-of-right-repayment/00/2153043

Re: I pay court ordered restitution on amounts I paid taxes on years earlier, how do I get credit...

MinhT1 — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 19:37:48 GMT

This is a claim of right repayment.

Please read this TurboTax Help topic on how to make such a claim.

topic I pay court ordered restitution on amounts I paid taxes on years earlier, how do I get credit for these payments? in Deductions & credits

I pay court ordered restitution on amounts I paid taxes on years earlier, how do I get credit for these payments?

Re: I pay court ordered restitution on amounts I paid taxes on years earlier, how do I get credit for these payments?

Re: I pay court ordered restitution on amounts I paid taxes on years earlier, how do I get credit...