Is income as an election inspector taxable in the stat of Wisconsin?

[ToddL]

How was it reported to you? W-2 or 1099-MISC? Approximately how much ?

[late0]

Neither. 2paystubs. Only $200.

[ToddL · Accepted solution]

Yes, income as an election inspector is taxable in the state of Wisconsin.

From the WI DOR website:

Wages paid to an election worker are not subject to income tax withholding. However, all wages earned by the election worker are subject to income tax.

Wages paid to election workers for services performed in national, state, county, and municipal elections are not subject to Wisconsin income tax withholding. Employers must report payments of $600 or more to election workers on Form W-2. Do not use federal Form 1099 or Wisconsin Form 9b.

Since these wages were not reported on Form W-2  and, presumably, were not part of your main job", you can simplify matters by reporting them as Other Income.

You can enter this on Line 21, using the Other Reportable Income interview.

Go to the Other Reportable Income interview, the very last interview in Wages and Income (Federal Taxes tab > Wages & Income category > Less Common Income subcategory > Miscellaneous Income sub-subcategory). You can enter "Election Inspector" as the description.

I

[Wotax]

The problem is, when a dependent earns $200 as an election clerk, they do not receive W-2 because it is under $600.  State law says any election clerk wages under $1800 are not subject to FICA, but there is no way to opt out of the self employe tax reporting, so there is one problem there.  Also,  Turbo Tax does not count these wages as "earned income" of a dependent and thus if the dependent has $200 of dividend and $200 of election clerk work, they are taxed on $50, when in fact their standard deduction should be 550 (200+350).  This is not right.  Turbo Tax should have an election clerk line item that allows the amount to be reflected as "earned income" and also allows the taxpayer to specify what the FICA limit is for the election work, which varies from state to state.