Surrogacy payments

What is the name of your state? New Mexico

If a woman does a surrogacy for a non-American couple, and the surrogate does not receive any formal "paycheck," (but she received approx. $15,000 total) is the money reportable for tax purposes?

If the surrogate is a US citizen, she must declare all income, whether in the form of cash, payments in kind, barter, or release from obligation (paying someone else debt as part of their compensation). Whether she can deduct expenses depends on whether surrogacy is legal in NM & whether there's any Revenue Code section specifically addressing this issue. I suggest you write the IRS for an opinion letter if you are unsure.