Gift cards, Microsoft Rewards, Microsoft cashback, device trade in, work rewards commendation program

[tenniseric98]

The more I do taxes and learn about taxes through Turbotax tooltips and this forum, the more questions I have about all the "little things" that occur in daily life, and if they are considered income. Namely, the following:

1. My manager gives gift cards every year during the holidays, as a sign of appreciation, but not directly in exchange for any specific work.

2. Microsoft Rewards - a program by microsoft where you earn points by completing tasks such as taking polls or clicking on activities, or simply by searching with Bing. Then you redeem the points for gift cards.

3. Microsoft cashback - Microsoft's cashback program built into their Edge browser. Works similar to Honey and CapitalOne. Earn cashback on purchases when activating the cashback before purchasing. Then you can transfer the casbhack earned to Paypal.

4. I traded in an old device to Best Buy and get a Best Buy gift certificate.

5. My company contracts with a vendor that provides a platform where empkloyees can commend each other and award points to each other. Those points can be exchanged for gift cards.

There might be more related situations, but these are all I can think of for right now off the top of my head. Are any of these considered income?

[pk]

@tenniseric98 , IMHO -- these are income to you.  This is because the entity giving you these  get to write off these as expenses.  However, if the value  of the  gift is under de-minimis  (  mostly these  are like  #25 or under   but you should look at the instructions of the applicable form ), you don't recognize this as  taxable income.   Note that the general rule is all income is taxable  unless specifically excluded by the code  AND all expenses are not deductible unless specifically allowed by the code.