salary and independent contractor

[jwteanson]

I work a normal salaried job making about 100K, but also did separate work that I received a 1099 for.  Are there better tax benefits considering that income as an independent contractor or should i just add it as additional income?

[StuartA46]

I'm not sure what you're asking here.  When you go through the TurboTax Income section it asks for income from W-2s and from 1099s.  You fill your regular job income in the W2 section and your 1099 in the 1099 section.  That's it.  There are no choices here.

[KrisD15]

You do have a choice of a "Simple Schedule C" which is a less expensive TurboTax program, but you cannot claim any expenses against the income. 

Only self-employed will allow you to claim expenses related to the income, but that software comes at a higher price.

That is the difference. 

@jwteanson 

[jwteanson]

Thanks for your time in answering @KrisD15.  I may not have asked the question well since I'm new at the consulting business.  I have a regular full time time job and have begun a new business as a consultant.  I can just add the 1099 as additional income or I can begin looking at it as a separate business and attempt to look at the advantages of having my own business.  I'm trying to figure the advantages of (and disadvantages) of each and which would be more advantageous for my situation.  

[JamesG1]

Your 1099-Misc income will be reported on 1040 Schedule C.  Here is a good summary of some of the expenses that you may be able to deduct.

You can try out TurboTax Self Employed (to the far right of the page).  There is a higher cost of the software but you may find that the additional business expenses outweigh that cost.

If need be, you can clear out your tax return and start over with a lower priced version of TurboTax.