If you do not agree with this classification you can speak with your
employer to request to be treated as an employee and given a W-2. If
your employer refuses you can file Form SS-8 with
the IRS. This will request the IRS to look at your employment
situation and make an official determination as to whether you are an
employee or an independent contractor. The IRS will contact your
employer to gather facts from them to make this determination. If you
choose to do this you can enter your 1099-Misc in Turbo Tax and for the
reason received select "I got this 1099-Misc for another reason" and
then "My employer reported this extra money on a 1099-Misc but it should
have been reported on a W-2".
If you decide not to file Form SS-8 then you will be treated as an
independent contractor for tax purposes. This is not always all bad
though since you can deduct any unreimbursed out of pocket expenses you
may have directly against your income. As an employee you could take a
deduction for these expenses but they would be reported as an itemized
deduction subject to a 2% of AGI limit. This means that if you use the
standard deduction or if your expenses were not more than 2% of your
adjust gross income then you would not see a benefit from the deduction.
As an independent contractor you can take the expenses even if you use
the standard deduction and you do not have a 2% floor on your
deduction.
