Twitch Streaming Help

[mkze]

Hello! 

I need some help on properly filing the money I made on Twitch from last year. I'm going to use some general values, so let's say I made $150 on Twitch. I received a 1099MISC which only reports $100 in BOX2 labeled royalties. 

I went through the Turbo Tax program and selected the SELF EMPLOYMENT tab and selected the option that describes the work as "It's Something Else". I went through it and added my 1099MISC info.

My understanding is that the other $50 is classified as digital content and characterized as service income (Bits received on Twitch) and you don't receive a 1099NEC form if you don't hit the threshold. Would I still fill out the NEC form and just put the $50 on it?

Twitch streaming is just a hobby of mine, I don't plan on deducting expenses. I just want to know if I'm properly reporting this small income, or should I just put total amount I earned into another category?

[PatriciaV]

Where you report royalties from Twitch depends whether this is self-employment income or a hobby. In general, if you regularly create intellectual property that can be subject to a copyright or patent (for example, you're an artist or musician), you should report income from this self-created property as Business Income.

If you intend to pursue this activity as a business with the intent to earn a profit, then you would report this as self-employment income on Schedule C (subject to self-employment income tax). This option is available in TurboTax Self-Employed.

However, if this is a hobby or occasional income with no profit motive, you may report this as "Hobby/Other Income" on your personal tax return. The IRS won't let you deduct hobby expenses, but your State may. You'll find an option to report hobby income & expenses under Less Common Income >> Miscellaneous Income, which can be reported in TurboTax Deluxe and above. You won't enter the income under the Form 1099-MISC topic if reporting hobby income. You should report all income you earned, even if you didn't receive a form from the payor.

This post may help you decide which is most appropriate: What's the difference between self-employment income and other income?

The easiest way to find either section of TurboTax is to use the Search box at the top right side of the TurboTax header. Click on the magnifying glass, type in "schedule c" or "hobby income" and click on the related jump-to link to go directly to beginning of the section. Follow the prompts to enter your income and expenses.