Trouble filing 1099 MISC for internship income

[kostatdg]

I can't seem to properly file my internship income. I'm a student and my only source of income was an internship for which I received a 1099 MISC with the full amount in box 3. I'm NOT self employed.

I've tried filing it as income related to my work or income with intent to earn income, but both require me to file a schedule C, which I can't file since I don't have a business.

I've been told that since it's an internship, which is considered part of my education as a student, I should file it the opposite of how I previously tried, and claim that it's not related to my job and without the intent to earn income. This got rid of the schedule C requirement. However, it now required my parents income to factor into the tax rate.

Once I entered my parents' income the tax rate sky rocketed and my standard deduction amount plummeted.

I'm not convinced I'm filing it correctly, because for the 2015 year I earned significantly more income and everything else was the same. I.e. my parents claimed me as a dependent both years, their income was the same (I used last year's income as a temporary estimate for this year's), and I've been a full time, not self-employed student both years. However, for 2015, on my significantly larger income, my tax rate was extremely lower than the one they suggest this year.

I feel that I must be filling wrong since this year I earned less, all other things remained the same(other than a troublesome switch from W-2 to 1099 MISC), but my tax rate increased by ~5x.

[JeffG]

Your question is very common - sorry for the confusion. 

Information from Form 1099-MISC can be entered in 2 different locations, depending on your situation:

• Self-Employment - when the income relates to your normal job or something you do regularly. This income will end up on a Sch C, subject self-employment tax and expenses can be entered to reduce the taxable amount. (The Turbo Tax program will help walk you through the proper treatment of that kind of income)
• Other Common Income - something you did only once - and not related to your normal job and not something you intend to do in the future. 

If the second example sounds like you - enter this information in Turbo Tax as follows: Go to Federal Taxes - then click on Wages & Income, next look for the section: Other Common Income, then click on Start to the right of "Form 1099-MISC."

I hope this helped you. Thank you for using Turbo Tax.