When you work as a freelancer or as an independent contractor, the IRS considers you to be self-employed. So, while you may not think of yourself as "owning a business" - the IRS does. However, in cases where you are simply an independent contractor, the business doesn't need to be any sort of formal arrangement - you can just enter your personal information as the business information (i.e. your name, address, contact info) and then enter the income and any expenses you have.
Exactly how you will enter the income depends on if you received a Form 1099-MISC or not. Either way, you can begin to enter your freelance income and expenses for Schedule C by following the instructions below -
- Log into your account and click Take Me To My Return (you must click this before searching if you are not already in your account)
- Type “Schedule C" in the search box, top right of your screen, then click the magnifying glass
- Click the "jump to schedule c" link in the search results.
- You will arrive at the Your Business summary page where you can add/edit a business
- If you have not set up your business profile, the program will ask you a series of basic questions to establish your profile. This is where you will enter the details of your "business" (i.e. your name, address, etc)
- Follow the onscreen instructions to enter your business income and expenses
- For entering income, there will be two main sections: one specifically for income reported on a Form 1099-MISC and one for all other additional income (including cash, checks, or income reported on a Form 1099-K).
- If you received a Form 1099-MISC, then you should enter the income in that section
- If you did receive a Form 1099-MISC, then you should use the all other additional income section
- After entering your income, you can proceed to the expenses section to deduct any business expenses
