Reporting income and making a payment are two separate actions. When you are self-employed you are going to file a Schedule C to report the income from your self-employment activity and then you will report your expenses that will then get you to net self-employment income. The net-self employment income will then allow, assuming that it is in the range of $5K that the question started with, generate some level of Earned Income Tax Credit and assuming you have a qualifying child(s), some level of the Child Tax Credit.
Payments to the IRS that you make are reported either as estimated tax payments or extension payments. The payment of taxes, in your case $300, is not the key to either credit again. It is the fact that both credits require earned income, not the payment of taxes.
Thank you for the opportunity to answer your questions @Zitro
All the best,
Marc T.
TurboTax Live Tax Expert
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