Yes or no to Employee question for 1099 employee?

[AKAurora1]

I employed a commercial fishing deckhand to whom I paid a share of the fishing boat proceeds and filed a 1099-misc which is standard practice. When turbotax asks if I paid anyone wages, do I answer "no", since they are not a w-2 employee who is paid "wages". 

[LindaS5247]

Yes, as these are not considered wages for tax purposes. You deduction for payments to your deckhand will go on a different line on your Schedule C.  Follow the prompts in TurboTax when completing your Form Schedule C.

A 1099 form shows non-employment income, such as income earned by freelancers and independent contractors. 

There are several types of 1099s used for different purposes, and Form 1099-MISC is often considered a catchall for income that doesn’t fit into other categories. However, the most common use of Form 1099 is reporting independent contractor payments for services provided to a business.

Prior to tax year 2020 these payments usually appeared on Form 1099-MISC. Now, businesses must separately report nonemployee compensation on Form 1099-NEC. Other than the change for nonemployee compensation, the use of Form 1099-MISC remains mostly the same for payment reporting.

Click here for additional information on Form Schedule C.