How should one file tax returns for self employed income (freelance) if the company I work with did not provide an EIN or 1099- Misc form despite contacting them?

[BillM223]

You can report the income that you received under Other Income in the Business interview in the TurboTax Self-Employed or Home & Business products.

It is not that uncommon for a Schedule C business to have income not reported on any form, so you just report it as Other.

Note in your tax file that you tried to get the documentation but could not.

[ppuneet]

Thanks for your reply, Bill! So, should I delete the current 1099-Misc and just fill out the details in "others' option of Business interview, and that should take care of it? I was seriously worried about getting my returns held up or rejected without the complete information. Thanks!

[BillM223]

What 1099-MISC? I thought you didn't get one. Is this a "fake" 1099-MISC that you entered to substitute for it?

If so, then, yes, delete it, because you would hate to enter a fake 1099-MISC that disagreed with the real one that they copied to the IRS but forgot to send to you.

The important thing is that you report the income. If the IRS ever writes you about this, then you can tell them what happened. Since you reported the income, they won't have much to be upset about.

[ppuneet]

Well, the system generated a 1099 form by itself because I filled the details in self-employed option. I did not know how else to report this income. Will "other" option generate a Schedule C still or do I not need one in this case? 

Thanks for your prompt response. 

[BillM223]

Well, to be honest, the Online Self-Employed product doesn't look exactly the same as the CD/download software that we normally use.

When you navigate to Business then Business Income and Expenses then edit your business then pick Business Income, do you not see the choices of 1099-MISC Income, General Income, Other Income, and Income you gave back?

If you do, choose General Income.

I don't have a functioning Self-Employed test at the moment...

To be clear, I don't mean the Other Income at the bottom of the Wages & Income screen, I mean Other income in the Business tab, or General Income, if it's there.

No, as you suspect, if you put it under Other Income at the bottom of Wages & Income, that will not generate a Schedule C.

[ppuneet]

Hello again! Thanks for the detailed response. I do not see the same options. I think the online version seem to report any self-employed income on one of 1099 forms (for freelancers, it is 1099- Misc?), which is, then, automatically filled in Schedule C. It is a little bit weird that I did not see the detailed options as you suggested, and the system does not allow me to fill 1040 Schedule C directly. I will keep working on it and try to figure it out. Thanks for your help anyways. At least I know that I do not complete a 1099-Misc in this case. 

[prasatz]

Use the IRS website to find work code...IE the code for the type of work you do, then use your totals from the stubs or copies of the payments made to you to fill in amount of 1099 income. You might want to send a copy of the amount reported to irs and request again a 1099 for your own records

[BillM223]

@ppuneet

OK, if you can enter this "1099-MISC" without having to enter an EIN, there really isn't much else to a 1099-MISC.

I just wanted to avoid you potentially having a problem in the Review or e-filing (TurboTax might notice that you have a 1099-MISC with no EIN).

If you do have a problem, come back and I'll create a self-employment test for Online to see what's there.

[ppuneet]

@BillM223 

Actually, i had filled out my tax returns a couple of days ago using 1099-Misc, and Turbotax did take me back for review in the final stage when I did not provide EIN for the company. I have been emailing the company since then but did not receive the information yet. So, I am stuck at that step. Should I use 1099-K/ cash/check self employed option instead because I do not see the General Income option or business tab in the online version? Thanks again!