I worked a full time job and received a w2. I also worked a side job. i paid quarterly taxes for that income. Do I need to wait for my 1099 before i can file my federal?

[TomYoung · Accepted solution]

No, you really don't need to wait for a 1099-MISC, (a 1099-MISC you might not even receive), if you know the correct amount of income to report.

As an "independent contractor" your obligation as a taxpayer is to maintain your own books and records - which might be as simple as a check register - so that you can correctly report your income and any associated expenses.  1099-MISC's need be issued only if a business paid you more than $600 so you might not receive a 1099-MISC if you weren't paid by a business or received less than $600.  Even if you were paid more than $600 by a business you might not receive a 1099-MISC because many businesses don't understand their obligation to provide one or simply ignore the requirement in any case. 

So if you know the correct amount of income to report, enter it as "general" income, i.e., income NOT reported on a 1099-MISC, and be done with it.  (The TTFree Edition does not support the reporting of independent contractor income.  You'll have to upgrade in order to report that income.)

As you work through the "Business" income interview you will be asked about any income that was reported to you on a 1099-MISC, but understand that NONE OF THE DETAIL you might enter there is included in your income tax return.  All the IRS sees on Schedule C where your revenue is reported is a total, lump sum amount, no matter how your enter that income in the program itself.

Tom Young

[leeadams02]

Thanks for the detailed answer Tom. The work I did was for a business and was also more than 600 dollars. I do know that they plan on sending me a 1099. However, I do see that I would have to pay 40 dollars to report the income that way. I cannot find a spot on turbo tax to report it the way you suggest.

If I already paid my quarterly taxes (through etides with my registered tax account number), why do I need to even report this income? I don't want to pay taxes on it again.

[TomYoung]

Well you can't not report the income.  That's a non-starter.  If you don't report the income but you do report the estimated taxes - which you also have to do - then you'll be due a "refund", (or have lower tax due), because of the missing income.

Intuit's Evil Marketing Geniuses© have set it up this way, forcing some sort of upgrade.  As I understand it - and I don't use any online version of TurboTax so I could be wrong - if you simply want to report the income and not take any expenses against that income you can use the first upgrade above the Free Edition and do that.  That would report the income on Schedule C-EZ.  

(As an example of how Intuit's Evil Marketing Geniuses© work, if you look at an actual Schedule C-EZ - <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sce.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sce.pdf</a> - you'll see that the government DOES allow you to report a limited amount of expenses on the Form, where TurboTax does not.)

The best way of going here, in my opinion, is to NOT use TurboTax online and just buy the desktop Deluxe edition instead.  Amazon has it for $40, and it might be cheaper elsewhere, but the desktop versions - for now, anyhow - all support the same Forms, Schedules and Worksheets, so you could prepare your Schedule C that way.

[Marketstar]

Your 1099 is due January 31, 2018, less than a week.

You should wait for the document as it is sent to the IRS as well.

Doing so may prevent you from entering an inaccurate income amount.