1099-NEC

[Coacheswife]

My husband coaches on the side for a soccer club. He is not paid much, it definitely isn’t for our livelihood… so would he report the 1099-nec he received as a sporadic activity or hobby? Also, if I am reading correctly.. if is listed as self employed, he would pay taxes of up to 15.3%& 2.9%. (18.2% combined).When I list it as self employed, turbotax takes from our refund MUCH more than the 18.2%. How can I fix this?

[MarilynG1]

Yes, Self Employment Taxes are assessed on Self Employment Income, but you receive credit for half the tax amount on your return.  The advantage of reporting the income as Self Employment Income is that Expenses can be claimed against it (mileage, equipment, health insurance premiums, for example).

You could figure your return using both methods to see which is more advantageous for you.

Here's more detailed info on Self Employment Taxes.

@Coacheswife 

[Coacheswife]

@MarilynG1 Thank you for your help. Do you know why, if I owe $197 in taxes for self employment, that it deducted more than that amount from my refund? Around $700 instead…

[Coacheswife]

It more advantageous to list as a hobby or sporadic activity because we are not claiming expenses… 

[MarilynG1]

If you're using TurboTax Desktop, go to FORMS at the upper right and from 'Forms in My Return' you can look at your Form 1040, and use the Magnifying Glass next to an amount to drill down to the originating entries. 

If you're using TurboTax Online, have you used the 'Preview My 1040' tool?  With your return open, go to Tax Tools > Tools in the left-side menu, then choose 'View Tax Summary' from the pop-up menu.  Then, back at the left-side menu, choose 'Preview My 1040'. This will give details on what is actually being reported in your return. 

Since we can't see your return in this forum, coupled with the fact that the Refund Meter does not always change in response to an entry just made, it would be difficult to say why your Refund changes by a specific amount.  It may not even be related to the Self Employment Tax. 

@Coacheswife