{"id":37734,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/taxes-on-back-pay.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"taxes-on-back-pay","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/litigation-disputes\/taxes-on-back-pay.html","title":{"rendered":"Taxes On Back Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 03, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Legally Reviewed\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Fact-Checked\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><p>In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a back pay award or settlement must be taxed as wages in the year in which the amount is paid and may not be attributed to the prior years for which the amount was intended to be compensation. The case involved the Cleveland Indians baseball team which paid $2.7 million in back pay to 22 baseball players for salary that should have been paid 7-8 years earlier. Even though the back pay was for the prior years, the Supreme Court ruled that income tax, Social Security, Medicare and other taxes would have to be paid on the entire amount based on the year in which it was paid.<\/p><p>The decision is important because when employers pay severance or settle discrimination or wrongful discharge claims, the amount paid is taxable and generally must be treated as wages. Under the Internal Revenue Code, only when the amount paid is &quot;on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness&quot; may the amount be excluded from gross income. Since cases of physical injuries are rare in the employment context, most settlement payments made to former employees must be treated as wages subject to all the normal payroll tax withholdings in the year in which they are paid.<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a back pay award or settlement must be taxed as wages in the year in which the amount is paid and may not be attributed to the prior years for which the amount was intended to be compensation. The case &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6522,6525,6520],"class_list":["post-37734","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__civil-litigation","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__civil-litigation__civil-remedies","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/37734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=37734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}