topic I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to file my taxes unless I have one. What am I doing wrong? in Self employed

I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to file my taxes unless I have one. What am I doing wrong?

caileym97 — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:09:14 GMT

Re: I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to ...

MayaD — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 19:55:31 GMT

The IRS requires you to have an EIN if any of these apply to your business:

You pay employees
You don’t pay employees, but have excise tax forms or other returns to file that require an EIN
Your business operates as a corporation or partnership
You’re required to withhold taxes on income, other than wages paid to a nonresident alien
You’re a sole proprietor or a farmer, and you have a Keogh plan, which is a tax-deferred pension plan available to self-employed individuals or unincorporated businesses for retirement purposes

If that doesn't not apply to you, Revisit the self- employment section to make you answered No t the question Do you have your own Employer ID Number (EIN)?

Log in to your account.
Select Federal from the left menu.
Go to Wages and Income then select Income and Expenses.
Go to Self-employment income and expenses and click review.
Click Edit next to General Information
Scroll down to Payments and identification.
Click Edit next to Employer ID Number (EIN)

Re: I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to ...

caileym97 — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 20:33:20 GMT

None of those apply to me. I went through the second part, and it is marked with No EIN. It still wont let me file without and EIN.

Re: I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to ...

FangxiaL — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 03:02:03 GMT

Did you receive a Form 1099-NEC for your self-employment income? If you did receive one, did you enter the EIN on the form?

If this is the situation, go back to the Self-employment income and expenses section and enter the EIN on the 1099-NEC form.

This is just one of the possibilities that I can think of.

@caileym97

Re: I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to ...

caileym97 — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 22:35:02 GMT

I have not received an 1099-NEC. There is no reason for me to have gotten that (from what I can tell when I google that form).

Re: I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to ...

VolvoGirl — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 22:39:52 GMT

Are you trying to fill out a 1099NEC for your income? You don't need that. Delete any 1099NEC or 1099Misc you started.

Just enter it as Other self employment income or as Cash or General income. You don't need to get a 1099NEC or 1099Misc or 1099K. Even if you did you can enter all your income as Cash. Only the total goes to schedule C.

How to enter income from Self Employment

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/self-employed/help/how-do-i-report-income-from-self-employment/00/26653

Or does it think you paid employees? You need a EIN for that. You should change that to No.

Type Schedule C in the Search box. Select the Jump to link. Select Edit next to your business and look around for Has Employees

Re: I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to ...

AliciaP1 — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 22:50:59 GMT

It would be helpful to have a TurboTax ".tax2021" file that is experiencing this issue.

You can send us a “diagnostic” file that has your “numbers” but not your personal information.  If you would like to do this, here are the instructions:

Go to the black panel on the left side of your program and select Tax Tools.

Then select Tools below Tax Tools.
A window will pop up which says Tools Center.
On this screen, select Share my file with Agent.
You will see a message explaining what the diagnostic copy is.  Click okay through this screen and then you will get a Token number.
Reply to this thread with your Token number. This will allow us to open a copy of your return without seeing any personal information.

We will then be able to see exactly what you are seeing and we can determine what exactly is going on in your return and provide you with a resolution.

Re: I am self employed and there is no reason for me to need an EIN, however it wont allow me to ...

caileym97 — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 23:01:47 GMT

Thank you all! I will reach out to them