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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   2222 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 29, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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From a personal budgeting standpoint, is an insurance reimbursement considered income or negative spending? I'm assuming the latter, but if anyone has arguments in the other direction I'd like to hear them.

If the IRS is asking then I file it under “non-existent.” I’d probably categorize it as negative spending like you.

As everything with taxes, it's complicated (not a lawyer or CPA, just random guy on internet who files his own taxes). Generally, if it's a payout for a specific loss, it's not taxable. If it's something like disability insurance or more complex insurance not tied to a specific loss event - it may be taxable. Something like car insurance probably not taxable. I classify it as "other income" in my budgeting app but I do not report it to the IRS as income.

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