My husband and I work in editing and finance, respectively, and we both have some additional income for music-related activities (singing and clarinet playing). We both received multiple 1099-miscs for 2016 for musical activities. I consider music income to be hobby income for each of us, even though we make a profit doing it, because profit is not our motive. My understanding is that we shouldn't need to pay payroll taxes on hobby income. However, since we recieved 1099-miscs for the work, the only way I can figure out to get TurboTax to not deduct payroll taxes for that income is to state that 1) the work isn't related to our core work (this is true), 2) we don't do the work to make a profit (also true), and 3) that 2016 is the only year we expect to receive it. This last part is not accurate. Is my understanding of what qualifies as hobby income incorrect? I don't see why having it multiple years in a row should mean that it counts as non-hobby income.
