Are volunteer stipends taxable income?

Why there is no single answer

Searchers use “volunteer stipend” for several unrelated payments, and Publication 525 treats each program on its own terms. The publication’s Volunteers section covers the Peace Corps, VISTA, the National Senior Service Corps programs, SCORE, volunteer tax counseling and volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders. Before asking whether a stipend is taxable, identify which program is paying it and what the payment is for: living costs, personal spending money, a termination payment, a reimbursement, or a service payment.

Peace Corps

Living allowances received as a Peace Corps volunteer or volunteer leader for housing, utilities, household supplies, food and clothing are exempt from tax. Other Peace Corps money is taxable and must be reported as wages: allowances paid to a spouse and minor children while the volunteer leader is training in the United States; living allowances the Director designates as basic compensation, which cover personal items such as domestic help, laundry and clothing maintenance, entertainment and recreation, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses; leave allowances; and readjustment allowances or termination payments. The publication says the readjustment amounts are considered received when they are credited to your account. Its example involves a volunteer who gets $175 a month as a readjustment allowance, paid as a lump sum at the end of service: even though the volunteer cannot touch it until the end, the $175 must be included in income each month as it is credited.

VISTA and the senior programs

If you are a VISTA volunteer, you must include in your income as wages the meal and lodging allowances paid to you. By contrast, amounts received for supportive services or reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses from the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, the Foster Grandparent Program and the Senior Companion Program are not included in income. The same exclusion applies to amounts for supportive services or reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses from the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Volunteers in the elderly tax counseling program do not include reimbursements for transportation, meals and other expenses incurred while training for or providing the counseling. For VITA volunteers, the publication says unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses can be deducted as a charitable contribution.

Volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders

Here the publication gives a number. If you are a volunteer firefighter or emergency medical responder, do not include in income two kinds of benefits from a state or local government: rebates or reductions of property or income taxes you receive because of your volunteer services, and payments for volunteer services of up to $50 for each month you provided services. The excluded income also reduces any related tax or contribution deduction, so you cannot get both the exclusion and a deduction for the same money. The calculator above applies the $50-per-month limit to a monthly payment: any amount over $50 in a month is taxable, and the first $50 of each month is excluded.

Worked example

A volunteer firefighter receives $85 a month from the town for 12 months. Each month $50 is excluded and $35 is taxable, so $600 is excluded and $420 of the $1,020 total must be included in income. A volunteer who gets $40 a month would exclude all $480. Because the publication states the cap per month of service, a year with fewer months of service has a lower total exclusion. Whether a taxable payment is reported as wages, other income or self-employment income depends on the arrangement; the publication tells Peace Corps and VISTA volunteers to report taxable allowances as wages.

Limits

This page covers the programs Publication 525 names. Stipends from private charities, universities, churches or AmeriCorps-type programs are not described in this section, and the publication does not say how they are treated here, so use the form instructions or a tax professional for those. If a payment turns out to be taxable compensation, see the self-employment tax calculator in case it is not wage income.

Sources

• IRS Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income (2025): the Volunteers section, including Peace Corps, VISTA, National Senior Service Corps, SCORE, tax counseling and volunteer firefighters. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 525 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.