Last year, I babysat for a family whom I found through Sittercity. I was with them for ~2-3 weeks. I was paid weekly by personal check. In total, I earned $450 during my time with them. There was never any discussion of my being an employee or independent contractor [i.e. they didn't have me complete a W4 or W9] prior to my starting to babysit.
The family texted me today saying they need my address & SSN to send me a 1099. My parents file me as dependent since I'm <24 yrs old, a full-time student, and still live with them- so I always just gave them my W2's and they took care of filing taxes.
I was planning to claim the $450 on the tax return as "other income." But I've (now) learned that the 1099 the dad wants to give me is for me to have to file self-employment taxes as an independent contractor. Am I obligated to provide him with my information? Could I get in trouble (legally) if I ignored his request? Does this mean I will have to pay self-employment taxes on the $450? What should I tell him?
