Student work part time during summer between classes

[TVofTN]

I mow-yards during the summer in between Trimesters and made $500 and I opened up an Roth IRA of $100 and saved $400 for gas to go to school. Where do I entered the $500 I made in Turbo Tax 2023 Deluxe and do I enter the $100 Roth IRA any ware.  

[Spino · Accepted solution]

You report the $500 on Schedule C as you ran your own small business. You can deduct any related expenses like gas for the mower or mower maintenance, and the cost of driving to and from jobs if you did that and kept or can make a written record of it.

The $100 to a roth you can report in TT for information, but it is not needed to prepare your return.

[AmyC · Accepted solution]

Some helpful information to report the $500 income and any expenses:

• About Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss from Business 
• Where do I enter Schedule C?
• Publication 535, Business Expenses
• Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records

You always want to keep track of your investments, when opened, each contribution date, how much, etc. 

[TVofTN]

I thought that because I open a Roth account, I had to prove I made the money to put into it.  So where do I put in Turbo Tax that I have a Roth account even though I do not have to? Fidelity had a promotion when I open up the Roth that if you open up a Roth account of $50 or more, they will give you a $100 that they would put into the Roth also.  Do I have to report that? 

[Spino]

As a TT expert mentioned, you'll want to track your contributions to your Roth because you might need to know that some day later, like if you want to take some money out after five years but before 59.5. We did that once when we bought a house. I don't think TT is the best place to do that, though they do offer an option under retirement accounts. Personally I just ignore it.

Regarding the $100 Roth bonus from Fidelity, did they send you a 1099? You might check the tax dashboard just in case. Otherwise, I think they're counting it as income within your Roth IRA, so it's neither a contribution (by you) nor taxable interest (since it ended up in a roth account.)