Whether you are an election worker yourself or a city official who oversees polling places, it's important to understand the tax laws surrounding election worker compensation. 

State and local governments hire individuals to work temporarily to perform services at polling places during primary and general elections. An individual so engaged is most often referred to as an election worker, but may also be known as an absentee ballot counter, ballot clerk, checker, deputy head moderator, machine tender, moderator, poll worker, polling place manager, or voting official. Compensation paid to these individuals, including for attendance at training or meetings related to the election, is includible as wage income and may or may not be subject to withholding for Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes. If these workers are reimbursed for mileage or other expenses, the reimbursement may be excludable from wages if it is made under an accountable plan.

Income tax is not required to be withheld from compensation paid to election workers but an employer and employee may agree to voluntary withholding from wages paid for the election services. FICA withholding is only required if the election worker’s compensation is greater than $2,400 (2025),$2,300 (2024), and $2,200 (2023) unless the worker is covered under a “Section 218 Agreement.” A Section 218 agreement is a voluntary agreement between the Social Security Administration and a state government to provide Social Security and Medicare coverage for the state and local government employees. In some cases election workers are excluded from the Sec 218 Agreement and in other cases a threshold lower than the amount for the year as noted above applies. If the election worker’s compensation is $600 or more, or if less than $600 but FICA or income tax was withheld, the employing government is required to issue a Form W-2. When an election worker is also employed by the governmental entity in another capacity, separate W-2s may be issued for the two types of payments.

For more information on this topic, please see the IRS web site at: https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/election-workers-reporting-and-withholding.