@cocob2001 wrote:
I had some income from bank savings interest, but from Rev all I made that year was 45. Similar in 2020 and 2021, I made some dollars from Rev but also had interest from my savings account and I sold some stocks. Would I need to file schedule c in those instances?
I'm curious about why this is coming up now.
Your tax return is a form 1040. If you are engaged in a business, then your 1040 includes as an attachment, a schedule C. Schedule C lists business income and expenses, and calculates net profit, which flows to form 1040 where it is combined with any other income.
---Step 1---
The first question we have to ask is, were you required to file any tax return for any reason in 2019, 2020, etc. You were required to file if your total taxable income was more than the amount shown below.
2019 $12,200
2020 $12,400
2021 $12,550
2022 $12,950
2023 $13,850
2024 $14,600
Or, you are required to file if your net income (gross income minus expenses) from self-employment was more than $400 in any one year, even if your total income was less than the $12,000+ threshold.
So if your Rev was always less than $400 per year, we can ignore that rule for now. Then we go back to total income -- was there any year when your total income (selling stocks, bank interest, and Rev) was more than the $12,200+ threshold shown in the chart.
Remember that money from the sale of stocks is not all taxable, only the gain. For example, if you bought the stocks, or someone gave them to you, and paid $10 a share, and you sell for $15 a share, your taxable income is not $15, but $5, the amount of gain.
If your Rev income was always less than $400 and your total income was always less than the chart, then you were never required to file a return, and there is no reason to file one now unless a bank or college wants to see it (and even then, I would double check, because if your income was always too low to file, then why make you file now?)
However, if you file for any reason, then you must list all your income, no matter how small each item is.
---Step 2---
If you decide to file a return for one or more past years, you must include the Rev income along with everything else (interest, stocks, etc.). However, Rev might be a business or it might be a hobby. That depends on how active you are. The IRS has some guidance here.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/hobby-or-business-heres-what-to-know-about-that-side-hustle
Since you don't appear to have engaged in the business regularly, with a profit motive, and you did not rely on the income, it would seem to me that you can treat it like a hobby (but you have to make that decision for yourself). If it is a hobby, it is still taxable as miscellaneous (hobby) income, but you don't include a schedule C and you don't deduct business expenses.
