I always keep a record of my hours and pay when working jobs like this exactly because of situations like yours. Even a simple notes app on your phone can save you so much hassle later. Hope you get this sorted out!

Don't panic - this is definitely fixable! I went through something very similar when a small restaurant I worked at closed abruptly. Here's what I learned: First, definitely don't skip reporting the income. $14,500 is substantial enough that it could cause real problems later if the IRS discovers it through other means (bank deposits, business expense deductions by your former employer, etc.). You'll want to use Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) to report this income. Gather whatever documentation you can - bank statements showing deposits, any text messages about pay, even photos of cash if you took any. The IRS understands that sometimes documentation is limited in these situations. Since you were likely paid under the table with no withholdings, you'll probably owe both income tax and self-employment tax on this amount. It's not fun, but it's better to get compliant now than deal with penalties and interest later. Also consider whether you were actually an employee or independent contractor - this affects how much you'll owe in taxes. If you had set hours, used their equipment, and they controlled how you did your work, you were probably an employee, which could save you some money on the self-employment tax portion. Document your attempts to contact the former employer (disconnected phone, bounced emails) - the IRS likes to see you made a good faith effort to get proper documentation.

One thing nobody mentioned - make sure you're still categorizing your expenses properly across all income sources! I made the mistake of just lumping all my income together one year and then tried to deduct expenses against it, and it got messy during an audit. Even if you're reporting some income without the 1099s, still track which expenses go with which income streams. It'll make your life way easier if you ever get questioned.

Great question! I went through something similar with about 30 clients last year. You're absolutely right to report all the income regardless of whether you received 1099s - that's the most important part. From my experience, the IRS doesn't really care if you lump together the non-1099 income as long as the total amount is accurate. When I filed, I entered each 1099 I actually received individually, then used the "other business income" section for everything else as one total amount. The key is your record-keeping, which sounds like you already have covered with your spreadsheets. Make sure you have client names, payment dates, amounts, and ideally some kind of proof of payment (bank deposits, PayPal records, etc.) for each transaction. One tip: if any of those missing 1099s show up after you file, don't panic. The IRS systems will match them up with what you reported. As long as your total self-employment income on your return includes those amounts, you won't have any issues. Also consider reaching out to your bigger clients about the missing forms - sometimes a friendly email reminder can get them to send the 1099s they forgot about.

Has anyone actually had their return audited over this issue? I'm in a similar situation (though smaller settlement) and wondering how risky it is to override the 1099-NEC categorization without getting the company to issue a corrected form.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now! Got a $30k discrimination settlement and the company also sent me a 1099-NEC. My tax preparer told me the same thing - discrimination settlements should NOT be treated as self-employment income. What worked for me was contacting the company's payroll department directly and asking them to issue a corrected 1099-MISC instead of the 1099-NEC. They were surprisingly cooperative once I explained that discrimination settlements aren't business income. It took about 2 weeks to get the corrected form, but it made everything much cleaner for filing. If you can't get a corrected form in time, definitely follow the advice about overriding in your software. Just keep really good documentation - I saved emails with the company about the settlement nature and printed out IRS guidance on discrimination settlement reporting. Better safe than sorry if questions come up later!

Last year I had the same issue with SBTPG and Credit Karma. The message changed to "in queue" on a Thursday, and I was checking my bank account literally every hour. Nothing Friday, nothing Saturday, nothing Sunday... finally got it Monday morning. I called SBTPG twice and got different answers each time. One rep said it was "processing normally" and another said there was a "batch delay." Now I just file directly with the IRS and get my refund sent straight to my bank. Yes, I have to pay the preparation fee upfront, but I get my full refund 3-5 days faster. Is it worth the extra waiting time to have the fee taken out of your refund instead of paying upfront?

I'm dealing with the exact same situation right now! Got the "direct deposit in queue" message from SBTPG yesterday around 1 PM and still nothing in my account. What's frustrating is that my IRS transcript shows my refund was already sent to them on Monday, so they've had my money for 3 days now. I understand they need time to process fees, but the lack of transparency is what gets me. Their automated system just keeps saying the same thing with no actual timeline. Next year I'm definitely paying the prep fees upfront and having my refund go directly to my bank - this middleman situation is way too stressful when you're counting on that money for bills.

Have u already entered the business as inactive or closed in TurboTax? Sometimes thats all u need to do and it will stop asking for forms. I had this issue last yr with schedule C stuff from my etsy shop that i closed in 2021.

This is a really common issue with TurboTax! Since you haven't had any business income since 2019 and the business is essentially closed, you shouldn't need Form 8895. The problem is that TurboTax is probably still treating your business as "active" in its system. Here's what I'd recommend trying first: Go to the Business section in TurboTax, find your business entity, and look for an option to mark it as "closed" or "inactive." This should stop TurboTax from requiring forms related to ongoing business operations. If that doesn't work, you have a few other options that people have mentioned here - the taxr.ai tool seems to help people figure out exactly what's triggering these form requirements, or you could try calling the IRS directly (though Claimyr might save you the hold time). The good news is you definitely don't need to wait until January 19th to file your return if your business has been inactive for years. There's just a setting somewhere that needs to be updated to reflect your current situation.