Unfortunately, an amount in box 7 of a 1099-misc signals the IRS that the recipient is self employed and owes self employment tax. That in turn triggers a Sch C which reports self employment income and expenses. Since this was a one time event, you could report that amount by entering it in box 3 which reports it as other income and avoids Sch C and self employment tax. If you do this be aware that the IRS might question this and you would have to justify your declaring that amount as other income.
