Do I have to pay income tax on money earned for taking surveys?

Taxes are not deducted from your survey earnings ahead of time. If at the end of the year, a survey panel has paid you $600 or more, they will send you an IRS Form 1099 which you should file as “miscellaneous income” on your tax return. So make sure when you get paid to save a bit of the money for the tax man at the end of the year.