Ok, I need help on this one. I did some digging and couldn't find similar situations in the answers.
My daughter is a college freshman this year. We will still be claiming her as a dependent. That part is easy.
She did not have any paying jobs during the school because she never had time and last summer she ended up being asked to perform in a show and was paid. She was paid in a single check, no taxes taken out. We knew ahead of time this would be the case, and she received a 1099-NEC. She is not a contractor or self-employed, she was a high school student who was given a role in a show before going to college. It was one and done. This pay does not put her into the threshold of needing to file from a dollar amount, but she needs to file because no taxes were withheld.
There was one thread that kind of touched on this but it was long and confusing and seemed to imply she had to use schedule C. So, I just broke out the 1099-NEC and read the back. The back actually reads:
"If you are not an employee but the amount in box 1 is not self-employment (SE) income (for example, it is income from a sporadic activity or a hobby), report the amount shown in box 1 on the "Other income line (on Schedule 1 (form 1040)). It says the other thing too, later. But the first thing it says seems to imply that you dont have to be classified as Self Employed for one off activity.
But, I have no idea how to begin this return. Obviously, she has no W-2, just the 1099-NEC. Although she paid no taxes, what she was paid is far below what the standard deduction would be for a single person. But since she is a dependent, I dont know how that works either. Based on other comments things I read, for a dependent, the deduction should be the greater of $1150 or her earned income +$400? as long as it is below the max standard deduction of $12,950
To further complicate things, she received a 1098-T to show the massive amount we paid for her tuition in box 1 and the tiny scholarship/grant amount she received in box 5.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
