Did you ever complete a W-4 Form (Employee's Withholding Certificate) or employee forms when you were hired? Or did you provide and sign a W-9 Form (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification) when you were hired?
Typically, a W-4 Form is completed when an employee is hired so the employer knows how much to withhold from your wages. If you completed this form, you would have been treated as an employee and issued a W-2 Form to report your wages.
If, however, you did not complete a W-4 Form but instead, was only asked to complete a W-9 Form, you may have been classified as a contractor instead of an employee. If you completed this form, you probably received either a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC Form to report your earnings as other income. In this situation, you would not have had any Medicare or Social Security taxes withheld.
Based upon your answers to the questions above, and assuming you were never treated as an employee, you would need to report your income as Self-Employed income or as Other income. Self-employment typically requires you to be working to make a profit, allows you to deduct expenses, but also is subject to self-employment taxes. Other income would imply that you are not in a business and are not intending to make a profit.
Self-employment taxes guide
Please see the following link for more information to help you if you determine you need to enter the activity as a business.
Self-employment income and expense guide
Please comment with more specific questions if you need additional clarification based upon your review of the information above so we can assist you accordingly.
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