Self Employment Tax

I'd report it as wages on line 7 of the 1040.

No. Include Form 8919 with your return to compute and pay the employee's portion.

Yes

Do I have to file an SS-8 to be classified as an employee?

========================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT: Please delete all unnecessary parts of the prior message when responding.

You indicated in your OP that you were already classified as an employee (getting W-2's). If your work for this now bankrupt payor was as an independent contractor (getting 1099's), you need to report the payment on Schedule C and pay full self-employment tax.

Phil,

Somehow the key point that I was trying to make was deleted by the moderator from my question. I do NOT work for the bankrupt company either as an employee or as an idenpendent contractor anymore. I have just received a payout of "serverence pay", which was earned from my prior employee work. This is being reported to me on a 1009-misc (I believe it should have been reported on a W-2).

How do I report this, and if on a 8919, do I need to file an SS-8?

========================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT: The moderator either approves or disapproves messages as a whole, and does not delete portions of them.

Report it as wages on line 7 and use the 8919 to caluclate and pay the employee's share of FICA/Medicare. The SS-8 is used to get a determination of whether there's an employer/employee relationship, but that's already established through your W-2 history with the employer. Thus, there's no need for an SS-8.

Phil,

If I report this income on 8919, what code do I select? If I select D (I was previously treated as an employee), my computer software requires me to also select code G (I filed form SS-8 with the IRS). Should I just select D & G and not file the SS-8?

The 8919 instructions tell you to enter reason code D. I find those instructions ambiguous about whether in your specific situation you should also enter reason code G, but they definitely say you don't need to complete an SS-8. So, if Big Daddy Software won't let you finish without checking G, check it.