Where to report income from subscriptions to my Substack newsletter

Doornail4151 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:22:54 GMT

I've been publishing articles on the Substack newsletter platform. Visitors can subscribe to my newsletter for free or paid. I made about $300 from paid subscriptions. Where do I report this income in TurboTax? I don't consider myself as self-employed as I don't write articles for a living.

Re: Where to report income from subscriptions to my Substack newsletter

DawnC — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 03:39:03 GMT

Generally, a hobby is something done more for enjoyment than an intent to earn money. To enter your hobby income:

Once in your tax return, click on Federal Taxes tab
Choose Wages and Income
Scroll down to Less Common Income and click Start to right of Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C
Click Start to right of Hobby income and expenses**

If you received a 1099-K for hobby income, click this link.

**As a hobby, you are not allowed any deductions from this income for the years 2018-2025. The IRS doesn't allow you to deduct hobby expenses from hobby income, you must claim all hobby income and are not permitted to reduce that income by any expenses.

4 Tax Tips for Money Making Hobbies

Tax Tips for Content Creators

Keep records if your hobby becomes more of a business than a recreational pursuit. Business owners typically use Schedule C to report profits and losses and to deduct a broad range of deductions not available to hobbyists. The IRS might consider your hobby a business when any or all of the following apply:

The things you do to run your hobby-business, like hiring knowledgeable employees and advertising, point to your intent to make a profit.
You earn your livelihood from the hobby.
You've made a profit for at least three of the past five years.
You hope to make a profit from some of your business assets down the road, like animals for breeding.
You've made a profit from a similar business in the past.

Because the responsibility is on you to show that your hobby-business is entitled to business tax breaks, keeping detailed records will come in handy in case the IRS asks you to substantiate that you have a business rather than a hobby.

Re: Where to report income from subscriptions to my Substack newsletter

Doornail4151 — Sat, 02 Mar 2024 20:45:06 GMT

Thank you , @DawnC , for the excellent answer! I appreciate your time and expertise.

topic Where to report income from subscriptions to my Substack newsletter in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Where to report income from subscriptions to my Substack newsletter

Re: Where to report income from subscriptions to my Substack newsletter

Re: Where to report income from subscriptions to my Substack newsletter