Report 1099-MISC or 1099-K

Income earned from self-employment such as gigs or freelance work is taxable, but the 1099-Misc and 1099-K forms don't always show up.

Most businesses are required to send Form 1099-Misc both to the taxpayer and the IRS if payments total $600 or more a year—but some businesses don't comply with the law.

Other businesses, including many sharing-economy platforms such as Amazon, EBAY and Uber, often use Form 1099-K to report payments to taxpayers and the IRS. But they don’t have to send 1099-Ks until total payments exceed $20,000 and there are more than 200 transactions a year.

Some businesses send 1099-Misc while others send 1099-K forms, which can produce confusing results for the taxpayer.

For example, a taxpayer can receive a 1099-Misc for, say, a $800 from one gig company, and not receive 1099-K for, say, $19,000 of earnings from another gig company. That’s because the $800 was above one reporting threshold of $600, while the $19,000 was below threshold of $20,000. In this case, the taxpayer is supposed to report the entire $19,800 as income, on Schedule C of form 1040.