Can I give myself a w-2 if I am self employed or do I need to give myself a 1099 ?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 6, 2019
3 replies
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TurboTax Self Employed Online

DS30

Level 12

Neither - If you are reporting your self-employment income on Schedule C as part of your personal Form 1040 filing, then you will not need to give yourself either a W-2 or a Form 1099-MISC. In this case, your taxable income is your self-employment income so any income of the self-employment business is considered your income.

Please refer to this IRS link for more information about Business Expenses

dollarbill247

Level 2

Without a W-2 you are ineligible for any Self employed 401k program.

Carl

Level 11

@dollarbill247 while your response is correct, it can be misleading. It can lead one to believe they can't have a retirement account of any type. The fact is, someone self-employed who reports business income/expenses on SCH C can have an IRA.

Wade1970

Level 2

I am confused by all these answers. I am a sole proprietor DBA my own name. I do contract work for the IT field. Occasionally I bring on a contractor to help me on big jobs and pay him so, I applied for and got an EIN. But I also need to report those wages I pay from my pocket as a sole proprietor. I want to be to be able to report my income as a W2 employee of my own company, so my entire EITC that is for my kid is not eaten up by self-employment taxes. So, again I set up and got BSO services online from the SSA to report wage statements. I got this by checking the box... "I am Self-Employed with an EIN and receive a W-2 under this EIN" Does this not suggest I can withhold my own taxes, pay them to the corresponding agencies and issue myself a W2? Thanks

AliciaP1

Level 13

No, you cannot pay yourself payroll, issuing a W-2, and file your taxes as a sole proprietor. A sole proprietor is required to pay self-employment tax (which is social security and medicare taxes) on the full profit of their business. If you bring in an independent contractor and pay that person more than $600 in the year, you are required to file a Form 1099-NEC for that person.

There are other options for your business to help you reduce your tax liabilities from being self-employed so you may want to contact a tax professional in your area to advise you.

You can also see Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center for more information.

@Wade1970

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