question about interview questions for 1099-MISC

[bluepalm]

I always have some income on my brokerage statements which falls into the 1099-MISC category. In the past I remember this info being imported into Turbotax with the rest of my info, and I don't remember it leading to any follow up questions from the software; however, this year turbotax is telling me all 1099-MISC info "needs review" - I checked the info and it all looks fine. The real reason Turbotax seems to be telling me that is because it wants me to fill out a whole slew of interview questions about the MISC income. Many of these questions I am not even sure how to answer. "Describe the reason for this 1099-MISC"  Do I just write investment income? It's asking me how often I got income from these sources and giving me a last of past years, and I'm not entirely sure how to answer this because on my brokerage statement all of this income is simply aggregated into one total sum. It's possible there are some funds from which I received the income in past years, and others not. Does this really matter?  It's also asking me if the payments involve an intent to earn money. How am I supposed to answer that? I guess yes, since it's investment, but I don't really know what the purpose of the question is. Are these questions there because of some new requirement of the IRS? Is it necessary to answer these questions, and will it cause any problems if I simply skip them? 

[LindaS5247 · Accepted solution]

TurboTax is asking you those questions to determine if this income should be classified as self-employment income, which is often reported on a Form 1099-MISC. This way the income will be reported as Other Reportable Income (not self-employment) to avoid any unnecessary taxes

When entering a Form 1099-Misc, the following questions are generally asked to determine if the income should be classified as self-employment income. You can answer them (according to your facts and circumstances) as follows:

• Describe the reason for this 1099-MISC  Brokerage Investment Income
• Do any of these uncommon situations apply? This is usually no as they are uncommon. You can read through them and if they don't apply, select None of these apply.
• Did the Brokerage Investment Income involve work that's like YOURNAME's main job? No. it didn't involve work like YOURNAME's main job. Select no if the basic skills used to earn this money were not the same skills used at your main job.
• How often did YOURNAME get income for Brokerage Investment Income? Select 2025  This usually means that you plan to get this same type of money in future years for performing a job.
• Did the Brokerage Investment Income involve an intent to earn money? No, it didn't involve an intent to earn money. This usually means you signed up for a job with the intent to earn money to make a profit.

You should see this income on your Schedule 1, Line 8z and it will flow to your Form 1040 Income Tax Return to line 8.

Click here for information on Form 1099-MISC. 

Click here for "Where Do I Enter Form 1099-MISC?" 

Please feel free to come back to TurboTax Community with additional information or questions.