How do I report a bonus less than $2,000 that I received in check form (no 1099 was given to me), not reported on my W2, and no taxes were taken out?

[MinhT]

You need to report this income even though your employer did not report it on your W-2.

Here are the steps to report it in TurboTax:

1) Open your tax return and find the Federal taxes Tab, click it

2) Click the Wages and Income tab

3) Click Continue until you arrive at the Your Income page

4) Click Skip to see al income

5) Find the LESS COMMON INCOME sub-group

6) Find the Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C line and click the Start / Update button

7) Choose the Other Income Not Already Reported on a W-2 choice and click the button on that line

😎 Answer "yes" that you received other wages not reported on a W-2

9) Skip the screens asking about any Household wages and such, until you arrive at the Any Other Earned Income screen

10) Choose "yes" here and continue

11) Given the choice of where the income came from, select the Employee Compensation option and then continue

12) Continue until you reach the Report Your Wage Income Screen, and then fill out the appropriate information; choose Reason Code G . . . and just ignore all references from here about the need to file a Form SS-8 with the IRS (as you're already an employee, this form is redundant)

[winsirius]

Why do we need to use reason code G , which is I didn’t receive IRS reply? Isn’t reason H more accurate? 
if I choose G, it asks me if I sent the SS8 form. @MinhT 

[macuser_22]

You are tagging onto a years old post.

How did the employer reported the bonus to you?      Any employer bonuses must be reported as part of wages on your W-2.    If end of year then it might be on your 2021 W-2 next year - ask your employer.

[winsirius]

@macuser_22  He didn’t report it anywhere. He is my former employer. And when I called him to get more details he said “no one paid taxes, you’re not supposed to. It’s a gift” it was a separate check, not included in my paystub. 
When you follow the steps above, turbotax explains everything and it makes sense. Turnotax askes for bonuses that wasn’t reported on w-2. The only problem is that when I have to choose reason code, there are no reasons that describe my situation. Reason H states that you received w-2 AND 1099-MISC. No I received only w-2. Is there any way to report this bonus without dealing with my former employer.

[winsirius]

how to know for sure that w2 doesn’t include this bonus? I compared with the last paystub for that year and amount is the one included in W2 box 1. No added bonuses. Is that right? 
also ai don’t expect it to be added to 2021 W2, because same happened with 2019 bonus, that I received in early January. It wasn’t reported.

@macuser_22 

[macuser_22]

Your employer is violating tax law by not properly reporting it an paying the employers share of Social Security and Medicare tax.   Employers cannot give tax free gifts to employees.

About the only way to report it on your tax return  so you properly pay the tax on it is to report it as above but reason H would be proper even though you did not receive any form.

[winsirius]

Thank you so much! @macuser_22 

I’ll ask him if he can report it correctly. But in the meantime, do I have an option to just write him check for the amount  of bonus to avoid having to deal with this situation? If I return money, will I be violating tax law? Money was deposited on my account in 2020.

[ToddL99]

Giving the money back is not the right answer, and it does not appear your former employer is going to help you correct the problem (one that he created). Returning the bonus only hurts you and rewards the employer for bad behavior.

@macuser_22 is correct - he is violating tax law and about the only way to report it on your tax return (so you properly pay the tax on it) is to follow TurboTaxMinhT's  instructions. Reason H would be proper even though you did not receive any form.