How do I enter a1099-MISC as other income, not self-employment income?

If you receive a form 1099-MISC for a legal service plan, then you are not considered as self-employed and do not need to file a Schedule C.

 

In TurboTax Online, enter your form 1099-MISC by following these steps:

1. Open your tax return
2. Click Federal in the left-hand column then on Wages & Income
3. Navigate to the list of income categories
4. Locate the section Other Common Income and click on the down arrow on the right
5. Click Start next to Form 1099-MISC
6. Follow the interview until you arrive at the page titled Did this involve an intent to earn money?. Answer that this did not involve an intent to earn money. The amount will be reported as Miscellaneous income and will not be subject to Self-employment tax.

 

In TurboTax, there is a work-around. Although you may receive this income every year, say that you only receive the 1099-MISC in 2024, not in previous years and not in 2025, you will then have the screen where you can say that it did not involve an intent to earn money.

I received a 1099-misc from General Motors Legal Services Plan. This is a fringe benefit that we receive each year for a negligible amount ($26.34). They tell us we don’t have to file a schedule C, but Turbo Tax is forcing the issue. This is not self-employment income!! And we do our own taxes and it is a royal pain in the butt. I have checked the answers to others on here who have asked the same question these past few years, and followed the instructions. But TurboTax keeps taking me to schedule C! How do I get around this? Lee Morey

Follow the steps MinhT1 outlines in the message before yours.

 

In TurboTax Online, enter your form 1099-MISC by following these steps:

1. Open your tax return
2. Click Federal in the left-hand column then on Wages & Income
3. Navigate to the list of income categories
4. Locate the section Other Common Income and click on the down arrow on the right
5. Click Start next to Form 1099-MISC
6. Follow the interview until you arrive at the page titled Did this involve an intent to earn money?. Answer that this did not involve an intent to earn money. The amount will be reported as Miscellaneous income and will not be subject to Self-employment tax.

We don’t use TurboTax Online. We always get the DVD and it appears the process is different from online?

In the desktop version of TurboTax, first you indicate that the money is not from your main job:

 

Then you indicate that you just received it in 2024:

 

Then you indicate that it is not from an attempt to earn money:

 

If you do that it should not be listed as self-employment income.

 

@weemorey 

 

I followed your instructions and it still is making me do a schedule C and it taxed me $5 for the 26.35. I don’t know what else to do.

I found the answer FINALLY! It kept telling me to go to the Business Income and Expenses section and I had been ignoring it because it did not apply…or so I thought. So I finally went to the section and there I found the option to DELETE Schedule C…HALLELUJAH!! Then I printed out the return and found the income on Schedule 1. Thank you,for your help!

Thanks very much.