I'm in college & worked for Instacart (grocery delivery) in the summer. I received 1099 mis instead of W2. Why is turbotax requiring that I list this as self employment?

[Hal_Al]

Although it may be news to you that you “have a business” (and most of the other people who get their first 1099-MISC); The IRS considers anything in box 7 of 1099-MISC to be self employment income. Enter the 1099-Misc income, at Other Common income / income from a 1099-MISC . TurboTax (TT) will complete Schedule C or C-EZ for you and allow you to deduct any expenses associated with this income. You'll also have to pay self employment tax (social security & Medicare) on any profits greater than $400. These types of payments are frequently done this way. Your "employer" is not the only one.

The IRS also considers undocumented cash income (no W-2 or 1099-MISC), for work performed, to be self employment income.

You may have to upgrade to the Self Employment version of TT.  

[Hal_Al]

TurboTax also has another free product called the Free File Edition (not to be confused with the regular Free Edition).  It has free Federal preparation and free State preparation. There is no efiling fee. It is not available after October 15

The Free file Edition can handle a 1099-MISC.

The Free file Edition is more fully-featured than the regular Free Edition.  The Free File Edition can prepare Schedule A, C, D, E, and F that the Free Edition cannot. 

For Free File Edition a user needs to meet only ONE of these qualifications:

•      AGI of $36,000 or less
•      or active duty military (including Reservists and National Guard) with a military-issued W-2 and a 2019 AGI of $69,000 or less
•      or eligible for the Earned Income Credit (EIC aka EITC).

The FREE FILE Edition is located at:
https://turbotax.intuit.com/taxfreedom

How to switch and start over in Free file Edition
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2026912-how-do-i-switch-to-turbotax-freedom-edition

[weezyb]

Most likely because no FICA taxes were deducted from your paychecks. That's Social security taxes and some jobs don't require the payment.  It's cheaper for the employer because they  have to pay the same amount you do.  If you want this to count on your SS, you would have to pay the entire amount.  If it were me I don't think the amount would be significant in view of the way SS payments are calculated.  You have a long time before you need to worry about that.

[rjs]

TurboTax is requiring you to treat it as self-employment because that's what it is. You are a self-employed delivery contractor, and Instacart is your client.

There is some controversy about whether people who do this type of work should be considered employees or self-employed independent contractors. But for now all the "gig economy" companies treat the workers as self-employed contractors.