@bechicago90 wrote:
Thx for your suggestion. I tried it. The Turbo Tax prompts/info are not intuitive with this route. Since I received a 1099-MISC, TT thinks I received business income. I would need to answer a question or two inaccurately. I don't remember with certainty but I think one question was "Did I receive a 1099-MISC?" The "work around" is to answer that I didn't receive a 1099-MISC. But I did. So, thanks for your help but I think TT needs to modify the software to account for income that is received from banking & brokerage account set-up cash incentives.
The questions in the 1099-MISC interview are taken directly from IRS instructions and guidance. The IRS is very focused on making sure that self-employment income is reported correctly so there is a bias in that direction. The key question is probably "intent to earn money." What trips people up is that the IRS has a very specific definition of "earned" income -- that is compensation for performing work, or a service, or providing goods. While you certainly have an intent to make a profit when investing, that is not considered "earned" for the purpose of this question. You didn;t perform work to get this incentive payment.
