I work for a family member doing odd jobs, and they’ve been paying me pretty well. Usually, that’s the end of it. They send me the money (USD) straight to my bank account. But now, they’re telling me I need to sign a 1099-NEC form, and it’s making me wonder if I really have to pay taxes on this. They’ve already sent a lot of money this year.
I also made the mistake of giving them my SSN because I thought I had to pay taxes, but now I’m doubting if that’s true. Are they trying to get more money from me or cover themselves? Or is this actually something I have to report?
NEW EDIT: I’m very behind on taxes… I haven’t filed for this year or last, since my official income is so low. They sent this 1099 back in May. I want to know: since they may have already filed their taxes, is it too late for me to say I’m not paying taxes on this money? Or would that create a huge mess? I saw somewhere that money given for “personal work” (like lawn mowing) doesn’t need to be reported as income. I’m just really lost here, so any advice is appreciated.
You do the work and get paid, so yeah, it’s taxable.
>Are they trying to just sneak more money out of me
Unlikely. They might be listing it as an expense if they’re sending you a 1099, but personal jobs don’t usually qualify for that. The big thing is that this money is income, so it’s taxable for you.
Check if the 1099 says what year it’s for, and make sure they actually sent it to the IRS. If they sent it in May, that’s pretty late, and they might not know what they’re doing.
>they are trying to make me sign a 1099 NEC
You don’t need to sign anything. They create the form, send it to you, and also file it with the IRS. You just report the income.
You pay income tax on what you earned. The 1099 is there to document it. This doesn’t affect the family member—they’re not paying your taxes; they’re just reporting what they paid you.
Since you did the work and received payment, that’s income you technically need to report, whether or not you get a tax form for it. Ignoring it can come with penalties.
You’re not paying their taxes; you’re paying your taxes. If your total income is below $12k, you might not owe much, if anything, but it’s still counted as income.
Nico said:
You’re not paying their taxes; you’re paying your taxes. If your total income is below $12k, you might not owe much, if anything, but it’s still counted as income.
If you made over $400 from self-employment, even with no income tax, you still have to pay self-employment taxes at almost 15%. If you had expenses for your work, like tools or travel, you could use those as deductions.
If they have your SSN and you did work for them, it makes sense they’d issue a 1099-NEC. You don’t need to sign it, just confirm the amount and tax year. You can declare it as income on Schedule C and possibly deduct things like gas, tools, etc. Nothing shady if everything matches up.