Issa Rice tax details: Contract work for Vipul Naik

All payment amounts are listed in current (i.e., nominal, without inflation adjustment) United States dollars (USD).

Upward recording adjustment: 2017,480.00

Downward recording adjustment: 2016,480.00

For more information on taxes, learn about Form 1040 and Form 1099-MISC.

Pass the parameter incomeForTaxPurposes in the URL to change the income used below to an arbitrary amount (example); this will use the same amount for all years.

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Tax situation for year 2024 (current year, so information not final)

In the year 2024, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2024) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 1 (PDF). Enter the total contract work income (which equals $10,000.05) on line 3 and line 10. For now, do not fill beyond line 10 (we shall return to line 15 later).

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). Fill in the lines prior to 8 based on your knowledge. On line 8 (which asks you to enter the amount from Schedule 1, the last line (the line for total income), i.e., line 10), re-enter the contract work income (which equals $10,000.05). Copy this value to line 9 assuming you had no other income.

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). If using Free File Fillable Forms, select Schedule SE - Self-Employment Tax - Taxpayer. Fill Part I (leave Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040, Schedule 1. For line 15, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 26, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Now return to Form 1040.

On line(s) 10 enter the value that you just filled in in Schedule 1, line 26, i.e., 706.50.

On line 11, enter the value of line 9, which is $10,000.05, minus the total deduction from Schedule 1, line 26, which is $706.50. The difference should work out to $9,293.55, or approximately (100 - 0.5 * 14.13)% of your income.

On lines 12 and 14, enter the standard deduction for the year, which is $14,600. The value you entered on line 11, namely $9,293.55, is less than the standard deduction you entered on line 14. Thus, on line 15, you will enter 0. You do not owe any income tax.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 2 (PDF). Fill in line 4; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. Enter the same amount on Schedule 2, the last line (the line for the total), i.e., line 21.

Now return to Form 1040. On line 23, enter the same value, namely $1,413.01. On line 24, enter the totals of lines 23 and 16, which should work out to $1,413.01. This is the total amount of tax you owe.

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS) or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 26. If you paid any money with your request for extension to file, report it in Form 1040, Schedule 3 (PDF) line 10 and copy to line 13, then copy to line 31 of the main Form 1040. Add up the values on lines 26 and 31 and enter this sum on lines 32 and 33.

Use the IRS EITC calculator to check if you are eligible for an earned income credit, and enter the calculated earned income credit value in Form 1040 line 27. Make sure when entering data into the EITC calculator to include the adjustment for 1/2 of self-employment tax when entering self-employment income. If your earned income is small enough, your earned income credit should approximately match the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, i.e., about 7.65% of your earned income. For self-employed individuals with small enough self-employment income, it should work out to be in the ballpark of the "half of self-employment tax" that you entered in Form 1040 Schedule SE line 13. The values may not match up exactly due to the use of tax tables rather than schedules for tax calculation, as well as other adjustments, but they should be within a few dollars of each other. As income goes up, the earned income credit becomes smaller, and at sufficiently high incomes, it becomes zero. You can also cross-check your calculations by looking up the EIC table section in the Form 1040 tax tables (HTML or PDF) for your year; however, make sure to subtract the 1/2 of self-employment tax from your self-employment income when plugging into the table to calculate.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of lines 24 and line 33 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2023

In the year 2023, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2023) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms. Please also consider e-filing your tax return using freefilefillableforms.com.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 1 (PDF). Enter the total contract work income (which equals $10,000.05) on line 3 and line 10. For now, do not fill beyond line 10 (we shall return to line 15 later).

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). Fill in the lines prior to 8 based on your knowledge. On line 8 (which asks you to enter the amount from Schedule 1, the last line (the line for total income), i.e., line 10), re-enter the contract work income (which equals $10,000.05). Copy this value to line 9 assuming you had no other income.

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). If using Free File Fillable Forms, select Schedule SE - Self-Employment Tax - Taxpayer. Fill Part I (leave Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040, Schedule 1. For line 15, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 26, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Now return to Form 1040.

On line(s) 10 enter the value that you just filled in in Schedule 1, line 26, i.e., 706.50.

On line 11, enter the value of line 9, which is $10,000.05, minus the total deduction from Schedule 1, line 26, which is $706.50. The difference should work out to $9,293.55, or approximately (100 - 0.5 * 14.13)% of your income.

On lines 12 and 14, enter the standard deduction for the year, which is $13,850. The value you entered on line 11, namely $9,293.55, is less than the standard deduction you entered on line 14. Thus, on line 15, you will enter 0. You do not owe any income tax.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 2 (PDF). Fill in line 4; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. Enter the same amount on Schedule 2, the last line (the line for the total), i.e., line 21.

Now return to Form 1040. On line 23, enter the same value, namely $1,413.01. On line 24, enter the totals of lines 23 and 16, which should work out to $1,413.01. This is the total amount of tax you owe.

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS) or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 26. If you paid any money with your request for extension to file, report it in Form 1040, Schedule 3 (PDF) line 10 and copy to line 13, then copy to line 31 of the main Form 1040. Add up the values on lines 26 and 31 and enter this sum on lines 32 and 33.

Use the IRS EITC calculator to check if you are eligible for an earned income credit, and enter the calculated earned income credit value in Form 1040 line 27. Make sure when entering data into the EITC calculator to include the adjustment for 1/2 of self-employment tax when entering self-employment income. If your earned income is small enough, your earned income credit should approximately match the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, i.e., about 7.65% of your earned income. For self-employed individuals with small enough self-employment income, it should work out to be in the ballpark of the "half of self-employment tax" that you entered in Form 1040 Schedule SE line 13. The values may not match up exactly due to the use of tax tables rather than schedules for tax calculation, as well as other adjustments, but they should be within a few dollars of each other. As income goes up, the earned income credit becomes smaller, and at sufficiently high incomes, it becomes zero. You can also cross-check your calculations by looking up the EIC table section in the Form 1040 tax tables (HTML or PDF) for your year; however, make sure to subtract the 1/2 of self-employment tax from your self-employment income when plugging into the table to calculate.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of lines 24 and line 33 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2022

In the year 2022, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2022) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 1 (PDF). Enter the total contract work income (which equals $10,000.05) on line 3 and line 10. For now, do not fill beyond line 10 (we shall return to line 15 later).

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). Fill in the lines prior to 8 based on your knowledge. On line 8 (which asks you to enter the amount from Schedule 1, the last line (the line for total income), i.e., line 10), re-enter the contract work income (which equals $10,000.05). Copy this value to line 9 assuming you had no other income.

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). If using Free File Fillable Forms, select Schedule SE - Self-Employment Tax - Taxpayer. Fill Part I (leave Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040, Schedule 1. For line 15, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 26, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Now return to Form 1040.

On line(s) 10 enter the value that you just filled in in Schedule 1, line 26, i.e., 706.50.

On line 11, enter the value of line 9, which is $10,000.05, minus the total deduction from Schedule 1, line 26, which is $706.50. The difference should work out to $9,293.55, or approximately (100 - 0.5 * 14.13)% of your income.

On lines 12 and 14, enter the standard deduction for the year, which is $12,950. The value you entered on line 11, namely $9,293.55, is less than the standard deduction you entered on line 14. Thus, on line 15, you will enter 0. You do not owe any income tax.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 2 (PDF). Fill in line 4; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. Enter the same amount on Schedule 2, the last line (the line for the total), i.e., line 21.

Now return to Form 1040. On line 23, enter the same value, namely $1,413.01. On line 24, enter the totals of lines 23 and 16, which should work out to $1,413.01. This is the total amount of tax you owe.

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS) or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 26. If you paid any money with your request for extension to file, report it in Form 1040, Schedule 3 (PDF) line 10 and copy to line 13, then copy to line 31 of the main Form 1040. Add up the values on lines 26 and 31 and enter this sum on lines 32 and 33.

Use the IRS EITC calculator to check if you are eligible for an earned income credit, and enter the calculated earned income credit value in Form 1040 line 27. Make sure when entering data into the EITC calculator to include the adjustment for 1/2 of self-employment tax when entering self-employment income. If your earned income is small enough, your earned income credit should approximately match the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, i.e., about 7.65% of your earned income. For self-employed individuals with small enough self-employment income, it should work out to be in the ballpark of the "half of self-employment tax" that you entered in Form 1040 Schedule SE line 13. The values may not match up exactly due to the use of tax tables rather than schedules for tax calculation, as well as other adjustments, but they should be within a few dollars of each other. As income goes up, the earned income credit becomes smaller, and at sufficiently high incomes, it becomes zero. You can also cross-check your calculations by looking up the EIC table section in the Form 1040 tax tables (HTML or PDF) for your year; however, make sure to subtract the 1/2 of self-employment tax from your self-employment income when plugging into the table to calculate.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of lines 24 and line 33 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2021

In the year 2021, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2021) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 1 (PDF). Enter the total contract work income (which equals $10,000.05) on line 3 and line 10. For now, do not fill beyond line 10 (we shall return to line 15 later).

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). Fill in the lines prior to 8 based on your knowledge. On line 8 (which asks you to enter the amount from Schedule 1, the last line (the line for total income), i.e., line 10), re-enter the contract work income (which equals $10,000.05). Copy this value to line 9 assuming you had no other income.

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). If using Free File Fillable Forms, select Schedule SE - Self-Employment Tax - Taxpayer. Fill Part I (leave Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040, Schedule 1. For line 15, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 26, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Now return to Form 1040.

On line(s) 10 enter the value that you just filled in in Schedule 1, line 26, i.e., 706.50.

On line 11, enter the value of line 9, which is $10,000.05, minus the total deduction from Schedule 1, line 26, which is $706.50. The difference should work out to $9,293.55, or approximately (100 - 0.5 * 14.13)% of your income.

On lines 12 and 14, enter the standard deduction for the year, which is $12,550. The value you entered on line 11, namely $9,293.55, is less than the standard deduction you entered on line 14. Thus, on line 15, you will enter 0. You do not owe any income tax.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 2 (PDF). Fill in line 4; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. Enter the same amount on Schedule 2, the last line (the line for the total), i.e., line 21.

Now return to Form 1040. On line 23, enter the same value, namely $1,413.01. On line 24, enter the totals of lines 23 and 16, which should work out to $1,413.01. This is the total amount of tax you owe.

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS) or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 26. If you paid any money with your request for extension to file, report it in Form 1040, Schedule 3 (PDF) line 10 and copy to line 13, then copy to line 31 of the main Form 1040. Add up the values on lines 26 and 31 and enter this sum on lines 32 and 33.

Use the IRS EITC calculator to check if you are eligible for an earned income credit, and enter the calculated earned income credit value in Form 1040 line 27. Make sure when entering data into the EITC calculator to include the adjustment for 1/2 of self-employment tax when entering self-employment income. If your earned income is small enough, your earned income credit should approximately match the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, i.e., about 7.65% of your earned income. For self-employed individuals with small enough self-employment income, it should work out to be in the ballpark of the "half of self-employment tax" that you entered in Form 1040 Schedule SE line 13. The values may not match up exactly due to the use of tax tables rather than schedules for tax calculation, as well as other adjustments, but they should be within a few dollars of each other. As income goes up, the earned income credit becomes smaller, and at sufficiently high incomes, it becomes zero. You can also cross-check your calculations by looking up the EIC table section in the Form 1040 tax tables (HTML or PDF) for your year; however, make sure to subtract the 1/2 of self-employment tax from your self-employment income when plugging into the table to calculate.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of lines 24 and line 33 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2020

In the year 2020, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2020) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 1 (PDF). Enter the total contract work income (which equals $10,000.05) on line 3 and line 9. For now, do not fill beyond line 9 (we shall return to line 14 later).

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). Fill in the lines prior to 8 based on your knowledge. On line 8 (which asks you to enter the amount from Schedule 1, the last line (the line for total income), i.e., line 9), re-enter the contract work income (which equals $10,000.05). Copy this value to line 9 assuming you had no other income.

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). If using Free File Fillable Forms, select Schedule SE - Self-Employment Tax - Taxpayer. Fill Part I (leave Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040, Schedule 1. For line 14, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 22, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Now return to Form 1040.

On line(s) 10a and 10c enter the value that you just filled in in Schedule 1, line 22, i.e., 706.50.

On line 11, enter the value of line 9, which is $10,000.05, minus the total deduction from Schedule 1, line 22, which is $706.50. The difference should work out to $9,293.55, or approximately (100 - 0.5 * 14.13)% of your income.

On lines 12 and 14, enter the standard deduction for the year, which is $12,400. The value you entered on line 11, namely $9,293.55, is less than the standard deduction you entered on line 14. Thus, on line 15, you will enter 0. You do not owe any income tax.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 2 (PDF). Fill in line 4; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. Enter the same amount on Schedule 2, the last line (the line for the total), i.e., line 10.

Now return to Form 1040. On line 23, enter the same value, namely $1,413.01. On line 24, enter the totals of lines 23 and 16, which should work out to $1,413.01. This is the total amount of tax you owe.

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS) or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 26. If you paid any money with your request for extension to file, report it in Form 1040, Schedule 3 (PDF) line 10 and copy to line 13, then copy to line 31 of the main Form 1040. Add up the values on lines 26 and 31 and enter this sum on lines 32 and 33.

Use the IRS EITC calculator to check if you are eligible for an earned income credit, and enter the calculated earned income credit value in Form 1040 line 27. Make sure when entering data into the EITC calculator to include the adjustment for 1/2 of self-employment tax when entering self-employment income. If your earned income is small enough, your earned income credit should approximately match the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, i.e., about 7.65% of your earned income. For self-employed individuals with small enough self-employment income, it should work out to be in the ballpark of the "half of self-employment tax" that you entered in Form 1040 Schedule SE line 13. The values may not match up exactly due to the use of tax tables rather than schedules for tax calculation, as well as other adjustments, but they should be within a few dollars of each other. As income goes up, the earned income credit becomes smaller, and at sufficiently high incomes, it becomes zero. You can also cross-check your calculations by looking up the EIC table section in the Form 1040 tax tables (HTML or PDF) for your year; however, make sure to subtract the 1/2 of self-employment tax from your self-employment income when plugging into the table to calculate.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of lines 24 and line 33 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2019

In the year 2019, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2019) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 1 (PDF). Enter the total contract work income (which equals $10,000.05) on line 3 and line 9. For now, do not fill beyond line 9 (we shall return to line 14 later).

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). Fill in the lines prior to 7a based on your knowledge. On line 7a (which asks you to enter the amount from Schedule 1, the last line (the line for total income), i.e., line 9), re-enter the contract work income (which equals $10,000.05). Copy this value to line 7b assuming you had no other income.

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). If using Free File Fillable Forms, select Schedule SE - Self-Employment Tax Part B - Taxpayer. Fill Page 2, Part I (leave Page 1 and Page 2, Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040, Schedule 1. For line 14, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 22, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Now return to Form 1040.

On line(s) 8a enter the value that you just filled in in Schedule 1, line 22, i.e., 706.50.

On line 8b, enter the value of line 7b, which is $10,000.05, minus the total deduction from Schedule 1, line 22, which is $706.50. The difference should work out to $9,293.55, or approximately (100 - 0.5 * 14.13)% of your income.

On lines 9 and 11a, enter the standard deduction for the year, which is $12,200. The value you entered on line 8b, namely $9,293.55, is less than the standard deduction you entered on line 11a. Thus, on line 11b, you will enter 0. You do not owe any income tax.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 2 (PDF). Fill in line 4; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. Enter the same amount on Schedule 2, the last line (the line for the total), i.e., line 10.

Now return to Form 1040. On line 15, enter the same value, namely $1,413.01. On line 16, enter the totals of lines 15 and 12a, which should work out to $1,413.01. This is the total amount of tax you owe.

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS) or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments in Form 1040, Schedule 3 (PDF) on line 8. If you paid an additional amount with your request for extension to file, enter that on line 10. Enter the total on line 14.

Return to Form 1040 and copy the total you just entered (on Schedule 3 line 14) to Form 1040, lines 18d, 18e, and 19.

Use the IRS EITC calculator to check if you are eligible for an earned income credit, and enter the calculated earned income credit value in Form 1040 line 27. Make sure when entering data into the EITC calculator to include the adjustment for 1/2 of self-employment tax when entering self-employment income. If your earned income is small enough, your earned income credit should approximately match the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, i.e., about 7.65% of your earned income. For self-employed individuals with small enough self-employment income, it should work out to be in the ballpark of the "half of self-employment tax" that you entered in Form 1040 Schedule SE line 13. The values may not match up exactly due to the use of tax tables rather than schedules for tax calculation, as well as other adjustments, but they should be within a few dollars of each other. As income goes up, the earned income credit becomes smaller, and at sufficiently high incomes, it becomes zero. You can also cross-check your calculations by looking up the EIC table section in the Form 1040 tax tables (HTML or PDF) for your year; however, make sure to subtract the 1/2 of self-employment tax from your self-employment income when plugging into the table to calculate.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of lines 16 and line 19 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2018

In the year 2018, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2018) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 1 (PDF). Enter the total contract work income (which equals $10,000.05) on line 12 and line 22. For now, do not fill beyond line 22 (we shall return to line 27 later).

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). Fill in the lines prior to 6 (inner blank) based on your knowledge. On line 6 (inner blank) (which asks you to enter the amount from Schedule 1, the last line (the line for total income), i.e., line 22), re-enter the contract work income (which equals $10,000.05). Copy this value to line 6 assuming you had no other income.

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). If using Free File Fillable Forms, select Schedule SE - Self-Employment Tax Part B - Taxpayer. Fill Page 2, Part I (leave Page 1 and Page 2, Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040, Schedule 1. For line 27, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 36, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Now return to Form 1040.

On line 7, enter the value of line 6, which is $10,000.05, minus the total deduction from Schedule 1, line 36, which is $706.50. The difference should work out to $9,293.55, or approximately (100 - 0.5 * 14.13)% of your income.

On line 8, enter the standard deduction for the year, which is $12,000. The value you entered on line 7, namely $9,293.55, is less than the standard deduction you entered on line Array. Thus, on line 10, you will enter 0. You do not owe any income tax.

Now go to Form 1040, Schedule 4 (PDF). Fill in line 57; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. Enter the same amount on line 64.

Now return to Form 1040. On line 14, enter the same value, namely $1,413.01. On line 15, enter the totals of lines 14 and 11, which should work out to $1,413.01. This is the total amount of tax you owe.

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS) or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments in Form 1040, Schedule 5 (PDF) on line 66. If you paid an additional amount with your request for extension to file, enter that on line 71. Enter the total on line 75.

Return to Form 1040 and on line 17, enter the amount you just entered on line 75 in the inner blank that says "Add any amount from Schedule 5" and then also on the main line 17 (on the right) and on line 18.

Use the IRS EITC calculator to check if you are eligible for an earned income credit, and enter the calculated earned income credit value in Form 1040 line 27. Make sure when entering data into the EITC calculator to include the adjustment for 1/2 of self-employment tax when entering self-employment income. If your earned income is small enough, your earned income credit should approximately match the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, i.e., about 7.65% of your earned income. For self-employed individuals with small enough self-employment income, it should work out to be in the ballpark of the "half of self-employment tax" that you entered in Form 1040 Schedule SE line 13. The values may not match up exactly due to the use of tax tables rather than schedules for tax calculation, as well as other adjustments, but they should be within a few dollars of each other. As income goes up, the earned income credit becomes smaller, and at sufficiently high incomes, it becomes zero. You can also cross-check your calculations by looking up the EIC table section in the Form 1040 tax tables (HTML or PDF) for your year; however, make sure to subtract the 1/2 of self-employment tax from your self-employment income when plugging into the table to calculate.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of lines 15 and line 18 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2017

In the year 2017, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2017) was $480.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). the data for lines 1 through 6 based on your knowledge. If you are single and nobody is claiming you as a dependent, you should have 1 total exemption claimed in line 6d. For line 7, enter your total income from regular employment (this should be 0 if all your income was from contract work). Enter your contract work income on line 12 (which equals $10,000.05 if contract work for Vipul Naik was your only contract work).

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). Fill Page 2, Part I (leave Page 1 and Page 2, Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040. For line 27, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 36, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Assuming you had no other income in 2017, since your income minus the deductible part of self-employment tax was less than the sum of the standard deduction of $6,350.00 USD and the basic personal exemption of $4,050.00, you do not need to pay income tax if you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, and if nobody else claimed you as a dependent. Under these circumstances, line 56 should be 0. However, if somebody claimed you as a dependent, you cannot take the personal exemption and may have a positive income tax obligation. Crude guess: your taxable income in this case will be $2,943.55 USD and your income tax will be approximately $294.35 USD. The computation of tax from taxable income is done using the 2017 tax brackets.

Now return to Form 1040. Fill in line 57; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. The total on line 63 should be the sum of your income tax (as calculated on line 56) and your self-employment tax (as calculated on line 57). This total will be $1,413.01 if you are taking a personal exemption (i.e., you are not being claimed as a dependent), and $1,707.36 if you are not taking a personal exemption (i.e., somebody else is claiming you as a dependent).

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS), or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 65. If you paid an additional amount with your request for extension to file, enter that on line 70. Enter the total on line 74.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of line 63 and line 74 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2016

In the year 2016, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2016) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $480.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). the data for lines 1 through 6 based on your knowledge. If you are single and nobody is claiming you as a dependent, you should have 1 total exemption claimed in line 6d. For line 7, enter your total income from regular employment (this should be 0 if all your income was from contract work). Enter your contract work income on line 12 (which equals $10,000.05 if contract work for Vipul Naik was your only contract work).

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). Fill Page 2, Part I (leave Page 1 and Page 2, Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040. For line 27, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 36, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Assuming you had no other income in 2016, since your income minus the deductible part of self-employment tax was less than the sum of the standard deduction of $6,300.00 USD and the basic personal exemption of $4,050.00, you do not need to pay income tax if you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, and if nobody else claimed you as a dependent. Under these circumstances, line 56 should be 0. However, if somebody claimed you as a dependent, you cannot take the personal exemption and may have a positive income tax obligation. Crude guess: your taxable income in this case will be $2,993.55 USD and your income tax will be approximately $299.35 USD. The computation of tax from taxable income is done using the 2016 tax brackets.

Now return to Form 1040. Fill in line 57; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. The total on line 63 should be the sum of your income tax (as calculated on line 56) and your self-employment tax (as calculated on line 57). This total will be $1,413.01 if you are taking a personal exemption (i.e., you are not being claimed as a dependent), and $1,712.36 if you are not taking a personal exemption (i.e., somebody else is claiming you as a dependent).

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS), or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 65. If you paid an additional amount with your request for extension to file, enter that on line 70. Enter the total on line 74.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of line 63 and line 74 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.

Tax situation for year 2015

In the year 2015, the total payment awarded to you (your income) was $10,000.05 USD, and the total money paid to you was $10,000.05 USD. Your upward adjustment to income (for payments from tasks completed in previous years, that was finalized in 2015) was $0.00 and the downward adjustment to income (for payments for completed tasks in that year, but finalized in later years) was $0.00. Thus, the effective income for tax purposes from contract work is $10,000.05.

Here is a rough estimate for how much tax you would need to pay assuming all your income was from contract work for Vipul Naik:

More details of your tax situation and how to fill your tax forms are below.

If you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, you need to file your tax return and pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on the income earned. You are above the filing threshold (92.35% of your income exceeds the filing threshold of $400). For more information on the filing threshold, see Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center and Form 1040, Schedule SE (PDF). The reason is that income earned through contract work is classified under self-employment income, and the responsibility for paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on such income falls on the worker rather than the payer. Approximate, highly conservative, guidance on what to do follows. This is just to give you a sense of how things should look; you should read through the forms and instructions competely to make sure it is correct for your situation.

Depending on your income and filing status, you may be eligible for an earned income credit (EIC), also known as an earned income tax credit (EITC). Since the EITC is complex to model, we do not include the value of the EITC in our calculations, and you're responsible for making the adjustments yourself. We do, however, have a gentle reminder when we get to the relevant lines in Form 1040, as well as heuristic guidance on what the value should approximately work out to.

Fill in the forms electronically (using your PDF reader) rather than by hand to make it easier to edit the forms and easier for the IRS to process your forms.

Start by filling Form 1040, Schedule C, Page 1 (PDF). In row F, select the Accounting method as "Accrual" -- this corresponds to using the "total payment awarded" which is what we use here; if instead you want to use "Cash" you must use the "total payment made" value, in which case you have to replace the number for all your calculations. Also, keep in mind that it is best to keep your accounting method consistent across years and across income sources, otherwise you run the risk of undercounting or double-counting income, and also attracting more IRS scrutiny.

In Part I and II, enter all your contract work income on lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 29, and 31. If all your contract work income was from Vipul Naik, and you are using the "Accrual" method, the amount will be $10,000.05 USD. The remaining entries in both parts should be zero or blank. Do not fill in Page 2. Attach only Page 1 to your tax filing.

Now go to the main Form 1040 (PDF). the data for lines 1 through 6 based on your knowledge. If you are single and nobody is claiming you as a dependent, you should have 1 total exemption claimed in line 6d. For line 7, enter your total income from regular employment (this should be 0 if all your income was from contract work). Enter your contract work income on line 12 (which equals $10,000.05 if contract work for Vipul Naik was your only contract work).

Now switch to Schedule SE (PDF). Fill Page 2, Part I (leave Page 1 and Page 2, Part II blank). Your contract work income will go in lines 2 and 3. Follow the instructions carefully. The end result on line 12 should be about 14.13% of your contract work income, which should work out to $1,413.01 (there are some edge cases where it's less, but these probably don't apply to you). The value on line 13 should be half of the value on line 12, which should work out to $706.50.

Return to Form 1040. For line 27, enter the same value as on line 13 of Form 1040, Schedule SE, which in turn is half of the value on line 12, and should work out to $706.50. The same value will likely go into line 36, assuming none of the rest of the adjustments apply to you.

Assuming you had no other income in 2015, since your income minus the deductible part of self-employment tax was less than the sum of the standard deduction of $6,200.00 USD and the basic personal exemption of $3,950.00, you do not need to pay income tax if you are a United States citizen or resident for tax purposes, and if nobody else claimed you as a dependent. Under these circumstances, line 56 should be 0. However, if somebody claimed you as a dependent, you cannot take the personal exemption and may have a positive income tax obligation. Crude guess: your taxable income in this case will be $3,093.55 USD and your income tax will be approximately $309.35 USD. The computation of tax from taxable income is done using the 2015 tax brackets.

Now return to Form 1040. Fill in line 57; this should match line 12 of Schedule SE, which is $1,413.01. The total on line 63 should be the sum of your income tax (as calculated on line 56) and your self-employment tax (as calculated on line 57). This total will be $1,413.01 if you are taking a personal exemption (i.e., you are not being claimed as a dependent), and $1,722.36 if you are not taking a personal exemption (i.e., somebody else is claiming you as a dependent).

If you have made estimated tax payments (using Form 1040-ES by mail or through EFTPS), or if you chose a credit elect last year, you need to enter the total amount applied from last year plus your estimated tax payments on line 65. If you paid an additional amount with your request for extension to file, enter that on line 70. Enter the total on line 74.

Now follow the instructions to fill in the rest of the form. Depending on which of line 63 and line 74 is bigger, you are either owed a refund or need to make a payment. If you are owed a refund, you can either ask for it right away or have it apply to next year's taxes. If you owe money, there is a possibility that you may also need to pay an estimated tax penalty, but if you aren't sure how to calculate this penalty, you can leave it blank and let the IRS reach out to you if they need you to pay a penalty.

If you are using a tax compliance software instead of filling the forms yourself, then check if it gives you an option to add in income for self-employment or contract work. Some softwares may not allow you to enter the numbers directly. To get around this problem, you may need to enter it in as if it is a Form 1099-MISC, even though you will not receive a Form 1099-MISC. That is because Vipul Naik is paying you personally rather than in the course of a trade or business, but tax compliance softwares may not have personal payments as a prominent enough use case to cover.