Are voided Jury Duty checks considered taxable income

[Carter_3058]

I served on a circuit court jury in my county.  I was issued a payroll check for approximately $75.  I had set the check aside and didn’t see it stated “Void if not cashed in 60 days.”  It is well past 60 days now, so the bank will not accept it.

My question is, if the check was voided by the county payroll without being cashed/deposited, is it still considered taxable income for me?  I would think the act of voiding the check would mean it is no longer considered taxable income (similar to a situation where a payroll error occurs and is voided).  However, I wanted to confirm.

[Anonymous_]

You have income and the check is most likely just "stale" rather than void.

As soon as you have unrestricted access to the funds, you have income. You cannot claim it is not income by any other means. This is tantamount to getting paid in currency and then setting it on fire in your front yard; you still received the income when you received the cash, regardless.

[xmasbaby0]

And...have you contacted the county and asked them to re-issue the check?

[Carter_3058]

@xmasbaby0 Yes, I have reached out multiple times over the last couple of months, but I still haven’t had much luck getting it reissued.

[Opus 17]

Unfortunately, as Tagteam indicated, once you received the money in a usable form (a valid check) it is taxable income to you.  Failing to cash the check (or losing it, or whatever) doesn't make it less taxable.