WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today released guidelines on how wrongfully-incarcerated taxpayers can take advantage of the new retroactive exclusion from income for any civil damages, restitution or other monetary award received in connection with their incarceration.
The guidelines are contained in a set of frequently-asked questions, posted today on IRS.gov. According to the FAQs, taxpayers who in the past received payments related to their wrongful incarceration and included those payments in taxable income can now file a refund claim for any income tax paid. To do this, eligible taxpayers must file Form 1040X for each year these payments were reported and write “Incarceration Exclusion PATH Act” at the top of each Form 1040X they submit.