You report the income from your own records. The IRS considers undocumented cash income (no W-2 or 1099-MISC), for work performed, to be self employment income. Enter at "Business Income & Expenses" and TurboTax (TT) will complete Schedule C for you and allow you to deduct any expenses associated with this income. You'll also have to pay self employment tax (social security & medicare tax) on any profits greater than $400. What you paid others for the metal is "cost of goods sold" (COGS). Your taxable net profit is considered earned income.
You may have to upgrade to the Self Employment version of TT.
If you do a one time job, outside of your normal line of work, there is a provision for getting out of paying the self employment tax. But, If you call it a one-time gig exception, you can only deduct your COGS. You may not deduct other expenses, like mileage (only a business can do that). It will not be classified as earned income, for the Earned Income Credit or Child Tax Credit
In TurboTax, enter at:
- Federal Taxes tab (Personal in Home & Business)
- Wages & Income
- “I’ll choose what I work on” Button
All Income Show More
Scroll down to:
- Wages and Salaries
-Less Common Income
-Misc Income, 1099-A, 1099-C
- On the next screen, choose – Other reportable income
- On the next screen, click yes
- On the next screen, you'll get blanks to enter the amount and a description. It will go on line 8 of Schedule 1 as"Other Income"
