I am filing 1099-NEC as a contract employee not as a business owner. How do I make sure my taxes don't say I'm the owner?

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
April 15, 2026
1 reply
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I worked as a contract employee for part of the 2025 and I'm not sure how to file a 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation. What do I do?

TurboTax Online

AmyC

Level 15

A contract employee is paid full wages with no tax taken out. No federal, no Medicare, no Social Security - you get the picture. The only way for you to pay those missing taxes, is to file the self-employment form. The IRS sees you as responsible for paying your own taxes, like a business collects from the employees. You are not an employee so, you are a business in the eyes of the IRS for collecting taxes. On the bright side, you get to claim expenses required to work.

Be aware - when you have a job and they take out the Medicare and Social Security taxes, the employer matches that amount and sends it to the IRS. Now, you are responsible for paying both parts, roughly 15.3% tax along with your actual federal and possible state tax. If you continue doing this work, you should be making estimated payments.

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