My cousin got a $200 Ibotta check last year and thought she was gaming the system until tax time rolled around. She ended up owing like $40 on it and now she keeps a little spreadsheet tracking every app payout, even the $5 ones. Same thing happens with credit card points if you cash them out instead of using them for travel, the IRS counts that as income too. I started doing the same thing she does, just setting aside 15 to 20 percent of every cashback payout so it doesn't bite me later.