1099-MISC issue

If you receive a form 1099-MISC for a grant, 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.

there should be an interview question after inputting the 1099-MISC whether it was an "intent to earn income".  Usually, if you say no to that, it should flow thru to Schedule 1 as income not Schedule C.

Thank you for this information.  However, the page you are referencing, "Did this involve an intent to earn money?" did not come up for me even after multiple tries. After about 15 tries, I was able to get it to go through without having to put in self-employment information. Not sure why it worked.