For those once wrongfully convicted of a crime who have been exonerated, time is once again not on their side. For years it was unclear if they were obligated to pay taxes on the compensation, but President Barack Obama cleared that up in 2015 by signing the Wrongful Convictions Tax Relief Act, which prohibited the federal government from taxing compensation paid to the wrongfully convicted. That means that exonerees who paid taxes within the last three years are not affected by this deadline. Prior to the 2015 law, the status of money paid for wrongful incarceration was vague under IRS rules. “At the end of the day, most exonerees who received money did not end up paying income tax.

Source: Huffington Post November 22, 2016 00:05 UTC