SE Tax minimum threshold ?

[RB287a]

Using Turbo Tax for Business, form 1065 and K-1s. Our 2 member LLC owns a mortgage note and only pays income taxes on the interest paid in on the loan. Normally that is the only income it receives. However this year I had to charge late fees on past due payments. I as managing member put the money to myself as compensation for dealing with the extra book work, bounced checks etc.
In Turbo Tax I filled in the LLC's interest income and also $170 in the "All Other income" category and gave it a label of late fees. At the end of the Turbo Tax return process it asked me if I needed to do the SE tax worksheet. So not knowing any threshold amounts I ran it.
Turbo Tax then asked me for the SE income amount which I was a bit surprised it did not know that having my previously entered the 170 in "other income".
So anyhow the SE Earning Worksheet showed I had Self Employment earning of $16 when pitted against the LLC's expenses. And on my K-1 (for the managing Member) it showed in Box 14 A the $16 and in Box 14 C $85. And nothing in Box 14 for the non-active member as correctly should not be. Won't know till I do my personal taxes about the SE tax but have two questions now.
(1) Is there a minimum threshold amount of SE income that you don't have to pay SE tax or do you always pay it no matter how small?
(2) Why does TB want me to enter that amount when I already gave it under All Other income? I'm wondering if it even knows I'm talking about the same $170?
(3) Also I assume since I don't use the nonfarm optional method that Box 14 C does not apply to my scenario?

[ThomasM125 · Accepted solution]

Assuming you are not a church employee, you do not owe SE tax if your self-employment income in under $400.

TurboTax needs you to designate your income as self-employment income, as it could be from non-self employment sources, such as credit card discounts. 

Box 14 (c) would not apply to you if you don't use the non-farm optional method method.

[RB287a]

Thanks, excellent summation, and to clarify one facet I left out, the LLC's interest income is passive and I knew it was not subject to SE tax. And no there's no church employee aspect.
But if I may further inquire on your reply to (2) I understand what you said, I surmise then in retrospect that if I had not entered the 170 in the SE worksheet and just passed over it, the Turbo Tax ending Error check would have asked me more questions about the "other income" I entered previously and the ramifications thereof.

Would I be correct in surmising that Turbo Tax assumes that at all (or at least part) of any amount I enter in running the SE tax worksheet must be coming from previously entered income at that point ?
It was ambiguously disconcerting Turbo Tax asking me at the end of the interview (after all Income questions and answers were done) to tell Turbo Tax what amounts I think or imagine subject to SE tax. Additionally it did not clarify if the amount I entered will come out of previously entered suspect Income, or an additional mysterious amount that I failed to enter previously to questions given. It just kinda left my hanging.

[RB287a]

I will say that by going into the raw Forms view of Turbo Tax it does make it pretty clear what your input is designated to and where all inputs are going. And the raw forms are editable in real time so that facet is definitely a plus for Turbo Tax in some areas where their interview questions may seem ambiguous to the some users. Which in this case was me.

[KristinaK]

Yes, you are correct.  TurboTax performs calculations in real time based upon amounts that you enter during the interview(s) it prompts for you.  The extra "double check" questions at the end of the interview are just there to help you, in the event that something was passed over.   Here is a link to the Self Employment estimator tool, which you can run on your own externally.  TurboTax runs this behind the scenes for you.  And here is an article that has more detailed information about the self employment tax.