§ 18.091.Proof of Certain Losses; Jury Instruction

A 2003 provision that changed how earnings losses are put to a Texas jury.

Notwithstanding any other law, where a claimant seeks recovery for loss of earnings, loss of earning capacity, loss of contributions of a pecuniary value, or loss of inheritance, evidence to prove the loss must be presented in the form of a net loss after reduction for income tax payments or unpaid tax liability under federal income tax law.

Gross earnings are not the measure. A worker earning $80,000 who never received $80,000 has not lost $80,000, and the section requires the evidence itself to be presented net — this is a rule about what may be proved, not merely about what may be recovered.

Subsection (b) adds a mandatory instruction. Where such a loss is claimed, the court shall instruct the jury as to whether any recovery for compensatory damages sought by the claimant is subject to federal or state income taxes.

The instruction addresses a common juror assumption. Personal injury damages for physical injury are generally not taxable income, and a jury that assumes otherwise may inflate an award to cover a tax that will never be charged. Telling them removes the guesswork in both directions.

The four listed categories cover the earnings side of a personal injury claim and the pecuniary side of a wrongful death claim — loss of contributions and loss of inheritance are wrongful death measures.