I earned $8 from Yahoo Finance but do not want to bother doing the paperwork to get it. Do I pay tax on it?

You have earned $8.00 and the fact you chose not to physically receive them is another story. I believe you have to report the income and it may not make much difference like you wrote but it is income.

issuing 1099's is required when the amount of $600 is paid for services rendered, $8 is hardly anywhere near $8

Your situation is a little bit of a gray area. Above all else, you are correct in that $8 will have little to no impact on your tax return. Even in the highest tax bracket, it will incur at maximum $3 in taxes. As in individual taxpayer, you are considered to be on the "cash basis," which means that income is recognized when cash is received. This contrasts with an "accrual basis" taxpayer, who has to record income when a promise to be paid is received (IE, someone who sells on credit and has a receivable on the books would recognize this receivable as income even though he or she doesn't actually have the cash in hand). However, the concept of constructive receipt may apply. It generally applies to corporations, and would probably never be reviewed for only $8, but knowing about it may be key to your decision. Your $8 is not a receivable - you just haven't accepted it. It would be as if the payer left the money on your doorstep and you refused to pick it up...you "constructively received" it, so it is still income to you - you can't avoid paying tax on it simply by pretending you didn't receive it. However, the loophole with constructive receipt is that, per the IRS, "...income is not constructively received if the taxpayer's control of its receipt is subject to substantial limitations or restrictions." In other words, if Yahoo Finance is requiring you to open a Paypal account, and this puts a substantial restriction on your receipt of the funds, and you can prove that this is a substantial restriction and the IRS agrees with you, constructive receipt does not apply. In the end, we are talking about $8, so it's really not a huge deal either way. It will not have a large impact on your income, and the IRS would never go after you for it. If it was $800, though, I'd probably report it. Furthermore, if you have nothing to hide and you are a US citizen, Paypal is a solid payment processing company with a good reputation (despite their fee structure), so creating an account is not a bad idea if you continue to receive such funds. Good luck!

If you do not receive it, you do not have to pay taxes on it. Taxes must be paid in the year you actually receive it.

whether or not you choose to accept it it is taxable and you should claim it however the amount is so low it does not affect your taxes so do not worry about it

It takes 5 minutes to set up a PayPal account, and they don't check yoru credit.

bro u need to check it u be steppin u got servd yo

They can't tax you on money you never received.