Reporting a $500 cash prize on my Federal and State returns

[FraRs89]

Hi,

I'm a resident alien who lives and works in Indiana (my current immigration status is H1B).

In 2020, I received a $500 cash prize from Baxter – a pharma company, located in Illinois (this is my only out-of-state income for 2020). FYI, this cash prize is a research award, and I’m not employed by Baxter (I don’t know if any of this may be relevant).

Since the amount of this prize is less than $600, I wasn't mailed any 1099-MISC / 1099-NEC form. So, I have a few questions:

1. How do I report this prize on my Federal return?
2. Do I have to file an Illinois return for a $500 cash prize? If so, how do I report this prize on my nonresident Illinois return?
3. If I don’t have to file any Illinois return, how do I report this prize on my resident Indiana return?

Thank you,

Francesco Rossi.

[LinaJ2020]

1.  You would enter under "Other Income".  Here are the steps:

In TurboTax online,

• Sign into your account, select Pick up where you left off
• To the right upper corner, in the search box, type in "other reportable income" and Enter
• Select Jump to other reportable income
• Next screen, Other Wages Received, select No to continue
• Next screen, scroll down all the way to the bottom, under Other reportable income, select Start
• Next screen, Any Other Taxable Income? select Yes to continue

2.  You do not need to file a IL return.  For details, click here: IL filing requirements

3.  Since Indiana tax calculation starts from the Federal AGI which includes the cash prize income, you might not need to make any adjustments.  In TurboTax program, after completing the Federal section, all the info will be transferred over to the State section.  Please follow prompts under the Indiana section in TurboTax to verify the information.