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Reporting Income from Unusual Job Situations

Hi. I have some questions about how to report the income that I received from two jobs that I had in 2007. I live in Illinois, but my questions pertain to federal taxes.

1) For one job, I worked as a model in a photo shoot. This was a one- day job, and I earned $50. At the job, I filled out a W-9 federal tax form. When I got paid, I received the $50 in full. No money was withheld for any taxes.

So, was I a 1099 contractor or a W-2 employee? Should I fill out federal tax form 4137 and pay Medicare and Social Security taxes on the $50? I have not received any tax form from this employer.

2) For the other job, I was supposed to work as an actor in a movie. The employer (in this case, the director) emailed me a contract. This contract stipulated that I would be working as an independent contractor, for one day, for $100. The contract actually used the phrase "independent contractor", which I understood to mean a 1099 contractor.

I was supposed to print out the contract, sign the contract, and bring the contract with me to the movie set on the day of filming. Then, the director himself would sign the contract, and the contract would be in effect. I would then work on the movie on that day, and I would be paid.

Well, what actually happened was as follows: I printed out the contract, signed the contract, and took the contract to the set. When I got to the set, I saw other actors there, but the director was not there. After we waited for an hour, we received a phone call from the director. The director said that the filming of our scene would be postponed indefinitely. However, the director did give me a $50 check just for showing up.

So, in summary, the director was not there to sign the contract, the contract never went into effect, and I did not do any work. However, the director did give me $50. So, is this $50 considered to be a gift? If yes, then the gift does not have to be reported to the IRS because the gift did not exceed $12000. Or is the $50 considered to be income from work? If yes, then is the $50 considered to be 1099 income or W-2 income?

I have not received any tax form from this employer, either. Also, this employer doesn't even know my Social Security number, and he hasn't asked me for it. Does the employer need my SS number?

Thank you very much for any information.

Reply to
midwest_46
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wrote

You're considered an independent contractor. Most models are.

Use Schedule C, generally, but if all you made for the year was $50, use C-EZ. No SE tax (Social Security / Medicare) is due on that little of an amount.

Nope. It's compensation to you - for showing up.

It's part of yoru self-employment income from modeling/acting. Lump it together with the other money on Schedule C or C-EZ.

So, lacking any other income, you made $100 being self-employed in the modeling/acting business.

You report what you earned. Don't worry about what they didn't report to the IRS.

Reply to
Paul Thomas, CPA

They are not required to send you a tax form because they paid you less than $600 for the year. Therefore, they also do not need your Social Security number. But you still have to report the income, as Paul Thomas said.

Bob Sandler

Reply to
Bob Sandler

If it's casual, you can simply put it on line 21 "Other income." If it's something you're serious about, that you're running in a business- like fashion, you can deduct expenses on Sch C, perhaps even showing a loss that you can deduct from your other income.

-Doug

Reply to
Doug

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