I received a 1099-misc from the union.

[Anna0818]

Question that comes up in turbo tax' Was it intent to make money? If I check yes, it shows self employed which is not correct.  I had to picket in order to receive the money.

[DawnC0 · Accepted solution]

If you check yes on that question, TurboTax will treat it as self-employment.  You can answer 'no' to that question and have the income taxed as 'other income' instead of 'self-employment'.  Since picketing is not related to your regular job, it is appropriate to treat the income as 'other income'.  To do this in TurboTax, answer the last questions about the 1099-MISC very carefully:

1. Does one of these uncommon situations apply? - None of these apply
2. Did the involve work that's like XXXX main job? - No
3. How often did (you) get income for ? Just leave as This year only
4. Did the involve an intent to earn money? No

Now your income will be reported on line 7a on your 1040 and not taxed as self-employment.

Now, if the amount is in box 7, the IRS may suggest that the income is employee income and that you should pay self-employment tax, and they might send a letter. In which case you can explain the situation (picketing is not your regular job, you did it because they assigned you to it, not because you wanted the income supplement, and it is not related to your regular job)

[Anna0818]

Thank you! 🙂

[edzenis]

I worked for a newspaper which ended operation in 2019. The union sent me a check which was my share of their assets, since they were closing their operation as well (no employees to represent any more). They sent me a 1099-MISC for this. How do I treat this on my return.