My income was negative, why do I still owe taxes?

[darkpwca]

Due to a business loss, my net income this year is appx. -$10k (I lived off of savings the entire year). This might be a dumb question, but why do I still owe taxes? Most of my income is from being self-employed (1099s) - do I still owe income tax and self-employment tax on that income even though my net income for the year is in the negatives?

For context, I'm a filmmaker, so I made the money to produce a film back in 2020 and 2021. I spent most of that money on said film in 2023, hence the negative net income. Thanks!

[DianeW777]

No, there would be no self employment tax if your business has an overall loss. If you have other income on your return it could be causing a tax liability. The first thing you should do is to review your 1040 all the way through to see what income is being taxed and your tax liability.

For TurboTax Desktop you can simply switch to Forms in the upper right then review your 1040.

For TurboTax Online begin here: On the menu bar on the left that shows. 

1. Select Tax Tools 
2. On the drop-down select Tools 
3. On the pop-up menu 
4. Select View Tax Summary 
5. On the left sidebar, select Preview my 1040 

Please update here with any follow up questions after your review.