filing taxes...yes another one

[daleswife]

I am tax dumb. I worked for my church as a house keeper and they paid me for it. Now I have a 1099 from them and It shows that I only made $637.50. How do I claim it on my taxes and would it hurt if I didnt claim it since its such a small amount. They didnt hold out any taxes on it, but from what Ive been told, its like an independent contractor and I have to claim it like a business??? Is that right??? Cause from what ive entered into the computer for my taxes, it makes the taxes go way up and we end up paying about 300 worth of taxes on 600. Does that sound right??? Can someone help me???? I hate tax time....

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I'm not sure how it works now, but when I was in college, I worked in our church nursery, I filed, but never paid or recv'd a refund since that was the only job I had, I don't know how to answer the rest of your question. Church's are tax exempt.

Suzanne

 

[msmayor]

You must report it on your return...the fact that you were sent a 1099 means the church reported the payment to the IRS, so the IRS will look at your return to make sure it is included.

 

[duckyfordonald]

I am in your exact situation. Here is what I did (on advice from a friend that is a tax accountant). She said that any amount over $400 had to be reported this way... I filed a Schedule C-EZ (Net Profit From Business) as well as a Schedule SE (Self-Employment Tax). And yes, it does seem like a lot of tax on just a little income! It made a $600 difference on our return when I added it in (I had made $1420). HTH

 

[scrapquitler]

The taxes on it are so much because in addition to the income tax on it, you also need to pay 'self employment tax' on it, which means that you have to pay social security (both the employee part AND the employer part) and medicare tax (again, both halves of it).

BUT because it is self employment income, you might be able to deduct some expenses if you have expenses related to that cleaning job

And yes, you need to report it to the IRS because since you got a 1099, the church has reported it to them, and they will be looking to match things up. If I remember correctly, the income does not get put on a 1099 and reported to the IRS if it totals under $600 (something to keep in mind for next year)...

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The taxes on it are so much because in addition to the income tax on it, you also need to pay 'self employment tax' on it, which means that you have to pay social security (both the employee part AND the employer part) and medicare tax (again, both halves of it).

But don't forget that you get a adjustment of 50% of the Self Employment Tax which gets deducted on line 27 of the Form 1040.

BUT because it is self employment income, you might be able to deduct some expenses if you have expenses related to that cleaning job

This is true.

And yes, you need to report it to the IRS because since you got a 1099, the church has reported it to them, and they will be looking to match things up. If I remember correctly, the income does not get put on a 1099 and reported to the IRS if it totals under $600 (something to keep in mind for next year)...

The law only requires doing a 1099-MISC if the amount is $600 or more, however, there is nothing to say that an organization cannot do it. Where I used to work it was easier to have the computer report and send out a 1099-MISC without regard to the amount than to screen for the amounts.