I'm sure that overall, you made more than $400 from all sources in 2015. If so, you can just report the "Less" than $400 you made being self-employed, as misc income. That way, you'll pay regular tax on it, but will not be subject to the additional self-employment tax PROVIDED all 1099-MISC and other self-employment income totals to less than $400 for the tax year.
Okay so with both the modeling comapnies I'm in, I have made less than $400.
So even though I stayed under the limit for both of them, I will have to file?
Are you saying that the two add together and are not seperate?
Only at Kohls but they take their percent out automaticity.
They are not separate. If self-employment income from ALL sources, is more than $400, then you'll report that income as a part of your personal tax return, on SCH C. In addition to regular taxes, you'll also pay self-employment taxes on that self-employment income only.
Even if it's less than $400, if the total of ALL income, regardless of it's source, is more than $6200, you are required to file a tax return. I'm sure your total income from all sources was in excess of $6200, because a person can not survive on less than that for a year, unless they are claimed as a dependent on someone else-s return - such as your parent's return.
The taxes taken out at Kohls are an estimate of the income tax you might owe. You might actually owe more or less. That's why you prepare a tax return, to figure out your true tax and get refund if too much was withheld.
Is there a number I can call to help me with this?
I'm just really confused...
You're confused only because your initial question left a lot for the reader to interpret. Here's the deal. I am assuming the following:
1) You are single
2) You are NOT claimed as a dependent on any one else's return
3) You do NOT have dependents, such as a child, that you support.
Since you also worked at Kohls, I have no doubt you had taxes withheld from that pay. So you need to file a tax return.
If your total earnings for the year from ALL sources was less than $10,200, *AND* your self-employment part of your total earnings was less than $400, you file a tax return to get all those withheld taxes refunded to you.
If your total earnings from ALL sources, was more than $10,200 dollars, including your self-employment income, you are REQUIRED by law to file a tax return, no matter what.
So the bottom line is, you're filing a tax return. Since your self-employment income was less than $400, I'll be happy to walk you through reporting your 1099-MISC income in the program, *when you get to that point* in the program, so as not to confuse you.
You must also file to get any EIC for which you might be eligible.
Okay so here's my situation.
I started cramming only just a couple months ago on two different sites.
Both I stayed under $400. Yes I know they are not seperate.
I also work at Kohls.
I am not single but not married.
And I'm pretty sure I'm claimed as a dependent on my parents.
And no I don't have kids.
For your parent's return, why are you not sure if you're claimed as a dependent? Are you a collage student who was under the age of 24 on Dec 31 of 2015? If so, this changes the ballgame entirely. Still easy to explain to you. But we need to know which ballpark we're playing in, is all.
Please don't get discouraged and hang in there. YOu can do this.
You must report all your income on your tax return. Since your total self-employment is less than $400, @Carl is suggesting a simplified way to report the cam earnings. It would go as "other miscellaneous income" in Turbotax. The amount of tax due would be about 10% of the total amount you earned. The amount is small enough that you do not need to make an extra payment to the IRS now.
If you go back to the cam sites and start to earn more money so that your total is over $400, you must use the more complicated way to report the self-employment income. Keep track of your income and also any expenses you have to generate that income (such as commissions to pay to sites, or props that you buy, or your computer) as they MAY be able to reduce your taxable income. Your tax owed would then be about 25% or 30% (15% self employment tax plus 10% or 15% income tax.)
As of right now I am a college student under 24. I was in college last year too.
So I should be a dependent under my parents.
I just don't want them to know I did camming....
...and your tax status is "single"
.
The IRS doesn't care about your dating status, or if you are engaged...You are either married, or you are not. (Married or single).
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There is a special status for a Single person with a child, called Head of household (HOH) but that, apparently, doesn't apply to you
If you have no other income except for self-employment, and your net income (profit after expense) is less than $400, you do not need to file a return.
If you have more than $400 of self-employment income OR your total income is more than the filing threshold for your status, then you must file a tax return and report ALL your income. (The filing threshold if you are single and someone else's dependent is $6300, and is $10,350 if you are single and not a dependent.)
When you have self-employment income, you owe 15% self-employment tax (the self-employed version of social security and medicare tax), plus income tax. The income tax could be between 0-25% depending on your total of all income.
You are supposed to file a schedule C for self-employment where you report your income, deduct expenses, and pay the self-employment tax. That information carries over to your regular tax return where you report any other income, your personal deductions, and pay the income tax on the overall total taxable income.
What Carl is suggesting is that if you have more than $6300 or more than $10,350 of total income, but your cam income is less than $400, there is a shortcut to report the cam income as "other income" and pay income tax but not self-employment tax. This would work as long as $400 is your gross income. If your gross is more than $400 and you want to subtract your expenses, then you still need the schedule C and to pay the self-employment tax on the net income after expenses. Because if you report "other income" you can't deduct expenses against it.
Is there a number I can call on here to help me? This is my first time filling my own taxes and I'm just really confused...
It's not actually that complicated. You might even want to download the paper forms and instructions from the IRS and read through them. It is a good learning experience for a young person.
Turbotax offers customer support but I don't know how much hand-holding they will do in your case. You can call and see what they say. For customer support hours and link, see below. Use the web form and type your question or a keyword. You will get an appropriate phone number for your issue. (You will not get a phone number if you use the link outside of operating hours.) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3300041">https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3300041</a>
If you are trying to file your tax return for income earned in 2015, the deadline for using Turbotax Online is October 17, after that it closes down to get ready for next year. If you are planning on how to file your tax return for 2016 income, that is not due for a long time so you have plenty of time to get ready.
Parent's don't need to know the soruces of your income. You're legally an adult anyway. So what you do with your webcam is your business. Anyway, the below applies to you. I'm posting as an answer, because comments don't allow for manipulation of the text. Please read all the below carefully. Do know that you ARE definitely, 100% filing a tax return. The information below will help you understand what you can and can not claim, as well as what you must, and must not claim on your return.
College Education Expenses
Colleges work in academic years, while the IRS works in calendar years. So the reality is, it takes you 5 calendar years to get that 4 year degree. With that said:
- Scholarships and grants are claimed/reported as taxable income (initially) in the year they are received. It does not matter what year that scholarship or grant is *for*
- Tuition and other qualified education expenses are reported/claimed in the tax year they are paid. It does not matter what year they pay *for*.
Understand that figuring out who claims the student as a dependent, and determining who claims the education expenses & credits, is two different determinations. It depends on the specific situation as outlined below. After you read it, I have also attached a chart at the bottom. You can click on the chart to enlarge it so you can read it. If it’s still to hard to read on your screen then right-click on the enlarged image and elect to save it to your computer. Then you can double-click the saved image file on your computer to open it, and it will be even easier to read.
Here’s the general rules gisted from IRS Publication 970 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf Some words are in bold, italicized, or capitalized just for emphasis. This is because correct interpretation by the reader is everything. Take the below contents LITERALLY, and do not try to “read between the lines”. If you do, you’ll interpret it incorrectly and risk reporting things wrong on your taxes. For example, there is a vast difference between “can be claimed” and “must be claimed”. The first one indicates a choice. The second one provides no choice.
If the student:
Is under the age of 24 on Dec 31 of the tax year and:
Is enrolled in an undergraduate program at an accredited institution and:
Is enrolled as a full time student for one academic semester that begins during the tax year, (each institution has their own definition of a half time student) and:
the STUDENT did NOT provide more that 50% of the STUDENT’S support (schollarships/grants received by the student ***do not count*** as the student providing their own support)
Then:
The parents will claim the student as a dependent on the parent's tax return and:
The parents will claim all schollarships, grants, tuition payments, and the student's 1098-T on the parent's tax return and:
The parents will claim all educational tax credits that qualify.
If the student will be filing a tax return and:
The parents qualify to claim the student as a dependent, then:
The student must select the option for "I can be claimed on someone else's return", on the student's tax return. The student must select this option ieven f the parent's qualify to claim the student as a dependent, and the parents do not claim them.
Now here’s some additional information that may or may not affect who files the 1098-T. If the amount of scholarships/grants exceeds the amount of qualified education expenses, the parent will know this when reporting the education on their tax return, because the parent will not qualify for any of the tax credits. (They only qualify for tax credits based on out-of-pocket qualified expenses not covered by scholarships/grants.) Also, the parent’s will not qualify for the credits depending on their MAGI which is different for each credit, and depends on the marital status of the parent or parents.
In the case where scholarships/grants covers “all” qualified education expenses, the parent’s don’t need to report educational information on their dependent student at all – but they still claim the student as a dependent if they “qualify” to claim the student.
If the scholarships/grants exceed the qualified education expenses, then the student will report the 1098-T and all other educational expenses and scholarships/grants on the student’s tax return. The student will pay taxes on the amount of scholarships/grants that are not used for qualified education expenses. However, if the student’s earned income reported on a W-2, when added to the excess scholarships/grants does NOT exceed $6200, then the student doesn’t even need to file a tax return, and nothing has to be reported.
If the student has any other taxable income not reported on a W-2, and it exceeds $400, (not including taxable portion of scholarships/grants) then most likely it’s considered self-employment income. That will require a tax return to be filed and the student will have to pay the Self-Employment tax on that income.
Finally, regardless of the student’s W-2 earnings, if any taxes were withheld on those earnings and it was less than $6200, then the student should file a tax return so as to get those withheld taxes refunded.