If you are a US citizen, survey panels will treat you as an independent contractor and as a result no income taxes are withheld from your payments. However, if you are paid more than $600 in a year by any given survey panel and you live in the United States the survey panel will send you a 1099 tax form. You must include these payments as "miscellaneous income" on your tax return. If you live outside the United States you will need to consult and accountant to get the answer to how this applies to your location.

This information is based on our basic understanding of tax laws, and since we are not professional accountants it is always a good idea to consult with a tax professional for an official response.

US based survey panels are only obligated to send you 1099 tax form if you earn more than $600 with their panel. Since each survey panel is a separate corporate entity, your earnings for each panel are treated separate. So if you earn $300 from panel A and $400 from panel B, chances are you will not receive a 1099 tax form.

The short answer is yes. The $600 rule governs that the survey panel is not required to file a 1099 MISC with the IRS, however it is your obligation to report all income and pay tax on it.

This information is based on our basic understanding of tax laws, and since we are not professional accountants it is always a good idea to consult with a tax professional when making tax preparation decisions.

Most Survey Panels listed on GetPaidSurveys.com have their own member's area and method for delivering incentives. GetPaidSurveys.com is an informational review site does not maintain survey panel membership information and account balances. To check your account balance for any given panel, you must visit the survey panel's site and log into the member's area. There you will find your current balance and the prizes / cash prizes available to you for your current balance.

Each Survey Panel maintains their own member's area, and this is where you need to go to retrieve your money / prizes earned for any given panel. You can generally find all the details by visiting the member's area for each survey panel.

Most of the survey panels will pay international participants in a form that can be cashed in their country. For instance GlobalTestMarket and American Consumer Opinion will mail you a check in your local currency. If the panel cannot produce a check in your local currency they will usually pay in the form of gift check/certificate that can be used in your country. Some panels also offer payment via PayPal.

Each Survey Panel that you join has there own method of payment and threshold for payment. Generally you must earn a certain amount of points or dollar amount with a panel before you can redeem your earnings. Again, some pay via check and others via PayPal. It really just depends on the particular survey panel. You can find specific information for each panel in the reviews section.

PayPal is an online account that allows you to receive and send money electronically. PayPal accounts are free to set up, and offer individuals a safe and simple way to send and receive money online. Once you setup a PayPal account, you can then link it to your bank account, and transfer money to and from your PayPal account. You can also use your PayPal account to pay at many online retailers. You can find more information about PayPal by visiting http://www.paypal.com.

Many survey companies offer you the option to receive your earnings via PayPal, so it is a good idea to get an account if you do not have one. It will enable you to get your incentives faster, and some Survey Panels are now only offering PayPal as the method to receive cash payments. Once you redeem your survey earnings via PayPal, you can keep the money in the account if you wish to purchase something online with your PayPal funds, or you can transfer the money to your bank account.