Author Topic: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report  (Read 1572 times)

katsiki

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Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« on: February 12, 2018, 05:50:33 PM »
I am trying to make sure I report $250 properly.  It was from tradeline sales.  I did not receive a 1099-misc due to the amount.

TaxAct allows me to enter as 1099-MISC with minimal info but I am not sure if that is OK.  (I recall prompts on other forms like "did you not get a form XYZ?" but nothing like that here, that I can find).  It appears I have two options (entering as 1099-misc which seems odd), OR Enter as "Business Income - Gross Receipts".  Can someone suggest which is best?

Thanks for any info!

kpd905

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2018, 07:06:51 PM »
How are you entering it on TaxAct without the employer ID number?  I need to add $375 of tradeline sales with one company, I just ended up adding it to another company that did send out a 1099, just so I could get my tax calculation right.

katsiki

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2018, 07:32:56 PM »
I put the company name and the amount.  I was able to close the form w/o any other details.  I was surprised but perhaps error-checking at the end would complain.

Hoping @SeattleCPA or someone else super-smart will chime in & help us.  :)


MDM

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2018, 08:34:48 PM »
You don't need a 1099 to report income.

You do need to decide (and consider if the IRS will concur) whether this goes on Form 1040 line 21, Other Income, or via Schedule C to 1040 line 12 and via Schedule SE to lines 27 and 57.

See Hobby or Business IRS Offers Tips to Decide | Internal Revenue Service for more.

katsiki

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2018, 08:43:33 PM »
Thanks @MDM.  I appreciate the links and info.

Do you have any opinion on whether a "dummy 1099-misc" is acceptable?

I did find that TaxAct has an other income section buried under several sub-menus.  I suppose I could see what effect that has also.

I would like to see this income end up on Schedule C with the other tradeline sales (I have a 1099-misc for that company).

Thanks for any guidance!

MDM

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2018, 08:50:00 PM »
Do you have any opinion on whether a "dummy 1099-misc" is acceptable?
It might be, but in general I wouldn't invent a form that doesn't exist.

Doesn't TaxAct have a place to enter business income that comes in cash, etc.?  People collect cash, checks, etc. as business income all the time with no 1099 documentation.

katsiki

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2018, 09:01:25 PM »
Thanks again...

I went with the other income section.  (KPD, let me know if you can't find it).

I also realized that gross receipts is wrong in researching this.

terran

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2018, 10:49:34 PM »
After doing our taxes "by hand" this year (taxact in the past) I've discovered that there isn't actually anything 1099 like on the return you submit, that's just taxact gathering info.

I always had plenty of 1099's to enter into taxact, but for amounts I received under the threshold (or that the client didn't submit even though they were supposed to) I just added that to the gross receipts prompt taxact gives you as part of the schedule C questionnaire. That's what I would do.

Google says 1099's are only attached to your return if tax was withheld.

SeattleCPA

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #8 on: February 15, 2018, 06:04:31 PM »
You don't need a 1099 to report income.

You do need to decide (and consider if the IRS will concur) whether this goes on Form 1040 line 21, Other Income, or via Schedule C to 1040 line 12 and via Schedule SE to lines 27 and 57.

See Hobby or Business IRS Offers Tips to Decide | Internal Revenue Service for more.

I agree with MDM about all this.

Also, it sounds to me as if you don't so much have a tax accounting question/issue but a question/issue about how to use the software to get the right number into the forms.

BTW when we do little Schedule C forms inside a tax return, we don't individually list out 1099s... we just enter the total revenue or rent.

katsiki

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Re: Side income under 1099-misc threshold - how to report
« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2018, 10:02:37 PM »
Thanks everyone!  I appreciate the input.

And yes, it was more of a software issue in this case.  :)