Get your taxes done using TurboTax

No, it is not permissible to report this return without a Schedule C. Since you are a US person who is trying to exclude his/her foreign income, it is a two-prong procedure. Please use the following procedures to prepare your return.

First you need to prepare a Schedule C declaring your income and expenses for the year,  This is done to determine your self-employment tax for the year. After the self-employment tax is determined and reported, you will prepare an entry to exclude the net income from your return.

Next you will report your gross income and determine your exclusion from your return.  Here are the order of steps that need to be completed. To prepare Schedule C.

1. Log into or open your return.
2. Go to federal
3. Wages and Income
4. Self-Employment
5. Self-employment income and expenses

After you have completed this, you will need to exclude the net income from your return, leaving just the self-employment tax, which you are required to pay.  These are also referred to FICA taxes, which are your Social Security and Medicare taxes.

1. Log into your account
2. Select Wages and income>other income
3. Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099>start
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page to Other Reportable Income
5. Other taxable income, answer yes
6. Then give a brief description of the income and the amount listed.. Here you will enter 1099 NEC income excluded for FEIE purposes and record the amount of net income with a minus sign in front of it.

Now to report your foreign income.  Remember in this case, you will report the full amount that is recorded on the 1099 NEC.

1. Click on Federal 
2. Click on Wages and Income  
3. Scroll down to Less Common Income
4. On Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion, click on the start or update button.