Anyone know how to tell me what steps i need to take as a doordash driver who only made approx $300 in 2020. They sent no paperwork to me. What do I do next???

[wellhelloasia84]

Due to sustaining a shoulder injury I had family helping me with apl of my expenses. But usually doordash is my main source of income.

[ErnieS0]

DoorDash will not send you a Form 1099-NEC because you made $300. The threshold for a Form 1099-NEC is $600. But you still have to report the money on your taxes as a self-employed person. The IRS requires taxpayers to report all income, whether there is a form or not. You can claim expenses, such as mileage.

To file your DoorDash income:

• Type self-employed in Search in the upper right
• Select Jump to self-employed

If you have expenses, you will need TurboTax Self-Employed Online or Home & Business CD\Desktop. You can upgrade within the program. TurboTax will tell you who much in expenses you will need to make the update worthwhile. You still have to report the income, even if you don’t report expenses. The IRS requires you to report all income, whether you received a 1099-NEC or not.

Finally if you made $300 and your family is helping you out, you may be a dependent. You can file your return but you may have to check the boxes in TurboTax stating that you can and will be claimed as a dependent if someone if providing more than half your support.

[Velo_miguel]

I’m in the same boat, but I made a little over $4000 doing DoorDash in 2020. I’m 20 and classified as a dependent by my family. It’s my first time filing my taxes so I have a lot of questions. According to a lawyer who “specializes” in taxes, I do not need to file since I didn’t meet the $12k threshold but I doubt this since I’m considered self employe. I’m pretty sure the lawyer was referring to those who hold jobs that aren’t classified as self employed. Do I need to file taxes or do I not?

[KrisD15]

Yes, you do need to file since you will have self-employment income. 

Since you're self-employed, you'll be able to expense things like mileage, but you'll also need to pay self-employment tax. 

When you work for an employer, they take out your federal withholding and FICA tax (Social Security) from your pay and send it in. 

When you're self-employed, you have to do that and it is done through your tax return. 

When you're self-employed, you may need to pay "estimated taxes" throughout the year since you can be penalized if you wait and pay it all at the end of the year. 

Type   Schedule C   into the search box and click the "Jump to Schedule C"  link in the TurboTax program. 

There will be an upcharge fee. 

Depending on your income, you might be better off using IRS FreeFile, but then your documents won't be saved in your TurboTax account. 

IRS FreeFile link

[alexlovesmom1]

My son is in the similar situation.  I learned this with my personal experiences and you get more benefits from filing it.   

1.  Claiming as someone's dependent,  they can claim as household ,  they get $500 dependent tax credit which means a lot

2. You can contribute your earned income to Roth which will give you up to $1000 tax credit. ( You can only contribute $4000 for your case)

3. File your tax,  prevent ID theft and future Stress payments or any this kind of sorts

4.  You can itemize your deductible per your $4000 income,  such as medical, dental,  eyeglass........