topic Re: Question about Contract Work in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Question about Contract Work

stevemia305 — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:38:57 GMT

Hi,

I'm an attorney and I drafted a few contracts in 2021 on an independent contractor basis. Two were for less than $600 and one was for $750, split into two ($375 up front and $375 upon completion). Regarding the latter, I was paid the first $375 in December 2021 and haven't yet been paid the remaining $375 as we're still finalizing that contract. Am I correct that I'd report all of these as other income on line 8 of my 1040 (specifically from line 8(z) on Schedule 1), and I wouldn't have to file a Schedule C?

Best,

Steven

Re: Question about Contract Work

ee-ea — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 19:40:00 GMT

If the total is over 400 you have to do Schedule C.

Re: Question about Contract Work

AliciaP1 — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 19:52:09 GMT

No, based on this situation you are considered self-employed.

Per the IRS:

The earnings of a person who is working as an independent contractor are subject to self-employment tax.

To enter your self-employment income in TurboTax Online you can follow these steps:

Open or continue your return in TurboTax
Search for self employed income (use this exact phrase, don't add a hyphen) and select the Jump to link at the top of the search results
Answer Yes on the Did you have any self-employment income or expenses? screen
- If you land on the Your 2021 self-employed work summary page, select Review next to the work you're adding income for
Answer the questions on the following screens until you arrive at Let's enter the income for your work
Select the form that applies to your situation and Continue
You can enter the info from your 1099 form on the following screens

Then be sure to review What self-employed expenses can I deduct? to see what expenses you can claim to reduce your self-employed income.

Re: Question about Contract Work

stevemia305 — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 19:57:53 GMT

Thanks @ee-ea . To be sure, if I made less than $400 from contract work (and I was otherwise obligated to file due to other sources of income), I'd add that as other income on line 8 of my 1040?

Re: Question about Contract Work

stevemia305 — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 19:58:16 GMT

Thanks @AliciaP1 !