As a personal assistant, should I file taxes under business income or miscellaneous?

Based on what you've described, you're most likely considered self-employed for tax purposes. Since you're working directly for a family who doesn't withhold taxes, you'll need to report this as business income on Schedule C, not as miscellaneous income. As a self-employed personal assistant, you'll need to pay self-employment tax (which covers Social Security and Medicare) in addition to any income tax. The self-employment tax rate is about 15.3% on your net earnings. But don't panic - you can deduct half of your self-employment tax on your 1040. The good news is you can deduct legitimate business expenses to reduce your taxable income. This might include transportation costs between clients (not commuting), supplies you purchased, any software or tools needed for your work, and even a portion of your cell phone bill if you use it for work.

Hey there! I was in almost the exact same situation a couple years ago - working as a personal assistant while in grad school. I kept getting confused about how to file correctly and was worried about doing it wrong. I found this service called https://taxr.ai that literally saved me from a tax disaster. You upload your info and they analyze everything to tell you exactly how to file correctly - in my case, they confirmed I needed Schedule C for business income and showed me which expenses I could legitimately deduct. Their AI system even found education credits I didn't know I qualified for. The best part was they explained exactly why I was considered self-employed rather than an employee, which had been confusing me. They even showed me how to set up quarterly payments to avoid penalties.

I tried taxr.ai after seeing this post and WOW - it was exactly what I needed! I'm also a personal assistant/household manager and was confused about whether I was an employee or self-employed. The service confirmed I'm self-employed and walked me through all the deductions I could take. It found over $2,300 in deductions I would have missed, including partial cell phone expenses, mileage when running errands, and even some home office deductions since I do scheduling from home. It also showed me exactly how to document everything in case of an audit. Best decision I made this tax season, especially since I also had education credits to factor in. It handled the complexity way better than I could have on my own.

If you've been paying $0 in taxes, you might need to talk to the IRS about getting on a payment plan. I tried calling them for weeks about a similar situation (was classified as an independent contractor) and it was IMPOSSIBLE to get through. I eventually found a service called https://claimyr.com that got me through to an actual IRS person in less than 45 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to pick up. I was able to set up a payment plan without penalties because I explained my situation. As a personal assistant who hadn't been paying quarterly, I was in a similar boat to you.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway since I was desperate to sort out my personal assistant tax situation with the IRS. I needed clarification on some self-employment filing issues and had been trying to reach them for WEEKS. The service actually worked exactly as advertised. I registered, they called me back when an agent was available (took about 35 minutes), and suddenly I was talking to a real IRS person who helped straighten out my situation. The agent confirmed I needed to file Schedule C as a self-employed person and helped me understand the payment options for the back taxes I owed. Saved me hours of frustration and probably a lot of money in potential penalties. Definitely worth it if you need to actually speak to someone at the IRS.

This might be a dumb question but have you received any tax forms from the family you work for? Like a 1099-NEC or a W-2? That would tell you exactly how they're classifying you. If they haven't sent any forms, you should ask them ASAP how they're reporting your pay to the IRS. If they're treating you as an independent contractor (which seems likely), they should give you a 1099-NEC if you made over $600. Either way, you need to report the income. Based on what you described, you're probably self-employed and will need to file Schedule C.

Just wanted to add that as a personal assistant, you're almost certainly self-employed unless they control exactly when and how you do your work and provide all equipment. Make sure you're tracking ALL your expenses for next year! I've been a PA for 3 years and these deductions add up: - Mileage when running errands (not commuting to their house) - Portion of cell phone bill used for work - Any supplies you buy for work purposes - Professional services subscriptions - Home office deduction if you do admin work from home Also, since you haven't paid taxes all year, prepare for a potentially large tax bill. Self-employment tax alone is 15.3% on your net profit!