If you were paid in cash or;
if your income was reported to you on a 1099-MISC with the amount in box 3 or 7, or;
if your W-2 has the "statutory employee" box checked, then:
As far as the IRS is concerned, you were paid that income while self employed and in business for yourself. Therefore you are required to report that income as self-employment income on SCH C as a part of your personal 1040 tax return.
Now, there are some exceptions to the above. To know if you qualify for an exception, you need to provide two peices of information.
- On what form is the income reported to you?
- Why specifically and explicitly were you paid that income? (As compensation for a university research project participant is one example.)
