hazard pay

[kvu]

my wife works as a home health aide for an agency who applied for and received hazard pay. This was distributed to my wife and reported as "Rents" on a 1099-misc. The person in charge said that this is not taxable and should not be reported as income. I'm concerned that a 1099-misc not included in my return would certainly trigger an alert with IRS  

[ThomasM125 · Accepted solution]

All income is taxable for federal income tax purposes, unless specifically exempted by law. I couldn't find any such exemption for hazard pay, outside of combat pay for members of the military. You can review IRS publication 525 which deals with taxable and non-taxable income to see if there is any exemption for your hazard pay. Also, you should ask your wife's employer for the IRS code which deals with the hazard pay issue.

In any case, you will need to report the income on your form 1099-MISC or the IRS will assume you earned it and did not report it.   

[kvu]

Much helpful. I found the instructions from State of Virginia which confirmed taxable income. This is not to be confused with stimulus payments.