What do I do with State of CT Form 1099-NEC?

A form 1099-NEC reports self-employment income mostly. Can you clarify what the nature of the income is?

It's essentially the "Hazard Pay" bonus the State of Ct paid out in 2023 to those "essential workers" who worked through the COVID period. Full time employees got $1,000, part time $500. State did not take out Federal nor CT taxes on the payment. The State Comptroller send out a notice about filing that wasn't terribly clear on how to enter the form.

"If you are not an employee but the amount in Box 1 is not self-employment (SE) income, report the amount in Box 1 on the "Other Income" line (on Schedule 1 (Form 1040))."

1) Not an employee of whom, the company we work for? In which case we ARE an employee of our employer?

2) How do we enter that on Turbo Tax if that is what we are supposed to do?

Thanks in advance...

Form 1099-NEC is for Non-Employee Compensation.  You cannot report a Form 1099-NEC without filing Schedule C - Profit or Loss from Business.  Reporting the payment on Schedule C will result in you having to pay self-employment tax of 15.3% (unless your earned income is above the social security threshold).  If you want to report the payment as Other Income on Schedule 1 of Form 1040, you can create a Miscellaneous Expense on Schedule C for the same as the Form 1099-NEC.  This will result in a net income of zero on your Schedule C and no self-employment tax.  To then report the amount as Other Income in TurboTax:

• Type "Other Income" in Search and hit Enter
• Click on "Jump to other income"
•  Answer "No" to "Did you get a 1099-MISC"
• Continue through the interview till you get to "Less Common Income" and click on it.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Start" next to "Miscellaneous Income, ..."
• Click on Start next to "Other reportable income"
• Answer Yes to "Any Other Taxable Income?"
• Give a description (e.g. CT Hazard Pay) and enter the amount
• The amount will be reported as "Other Income" on Schedule 1 of Form 1040