Taxation Implications of Jury Fees

1. Categories of tax payers

The information in this section has been provided by the Australia Taxation Office.

Employed tax payers

Attendance fees paid to employed jurors and potential jurors are assessable income, and must be declared at item 24 of the Supplementary tax return, unless the person in question has paid the fees on to their employer. 

If a person pays an attendance fee on to their employer, the fee will not be assessable income and does do not need to be declared as income. 

Payments to compensate a person for the cost of travel are not assessable and do not need to be declared as income.

Unemployed tax payers 

Attendance fees paid to unemployed jurors and potential jurors are assessable income, and must be declared at item 24 of the Supplementary tax return, unless the person is not required to lodge a tax return. 

Payments to compensate for the cost of travel are not assessable and do not need to be declared as income. 

Self-employed taxpayers 

Attendance fees paid to self-employed taxpayers are assessable income and should be declared as part of the business income on the person’s income tax return. 

Payments to compensate for the cost of travel are not assessable and do not need to be declared as income.

Centrelink benefits

Attendance fees paid to a person who is receiving Centrelink benefits are assessable income, and must be declared at item 24 of the Supplementary tax return, unless the person is not required to lodge a tax return. 

However, jury attendance fees are excluded from the definition of income for Centrelink purposes and do not need to be declared to Centrelink. 

2. Other issues relevant to tax

Superannuation 

The Federal Court does not make superannuation guarantee payments in relation to jury fees. 

PAYE deductions 

The Federal Court does not withhold PAYE amounts from jury fees. 

Payment reports 

The Federal Court does not provide end of year payment reports to jurors or potential jurors.

At August 2019