Can TurboTax Premier handle W-2 plus 1099-NEC and RSU income for my tax filing?
I'm really confused about which tax software to use this year since my tax situation got more complex. For the past few years, I've been a simple W-2 employee and used TurboTax Premier without any issues. But this year, two things changed: First, I did some side work for my cousin's startup and received a 1099-NEC for about $3,800 (they paid me roughly $950/month for 4 months). I've never had to deal with 1099 income before. Second, I switched jobs in August and my new employer gave me some RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) through Fidelity. I honestly have no clue how to handle these for tax purposes. Can anyone tell me if TurboTax Premier will work for both these situations? If Premier can handle the 1099-NEC, where exactly do I input that income? And for the RSUs, can TurboTax automatically import all that stock information from Fidelity, or will I need to manually input/adjust things? At this point, I'm wondering if I should just hire a tax professional instead of trying to figure this out myself. My taxes were so simple before! Any advice would be really appreciated.
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Jake Sinclair
You should be fine with TurboTax Premier for your situation. Premier is designed to handle investment income including RSUs, and it can definitely handle your 1099-NEC income too. For your 1099-NEC income, TurboTax will guide you through entering this during the income section. It will ask if you have any self-employment or freelance income. When you select yes, it'll prompt you to enter your 1099-NEC information. The software will then help you complete a Schedule C for this income. Since it's only $3,800, it shouldn't be too complicated. Regarding your RSUs from Fidelity, TurboTax Premier can indeed import that information directly. However, you should still review everything carefully after importing. Sometimes the import doesn't categorize everything correctly, especially for RSUs where some taxation happens at vesting. You'll want to make sure the basis information is correct to avoid overpaying taxes.
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Brielle Johnson
•Thanks for the info! Quick follow-up question - do I need to track any expenses against that 1099-NEC income? I occasionally used my personal laptop and sometimes drove to meetings. Also, for the RSUs, will TurboTax know which ones already had taxes withheld at vesting vs ones that didn't?
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Jake Sinclair
•Yes, you absolutely can (and should) track legitimate business expenses against your 1099-NEC income. TurboTax will walk you through deducting business expenses like a portion of your laptop usage or mileage for business travel. Just make sure you have documentation to support these deductions in case of an audit. For the RSUs, TurboTax will import the information as provided by Fidelity, but it won't automatically "know" which ones had taxes withheld at vesting. You'll need to check your paystubs or W-2 to verify the withholding was done correctly. The RSU income should already be included in your W-2 Box 1 wages when they vested, and you'll need to ensure you're not double-taxed when you eventually sell the shares.
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Honorah King
After reading your situation, it reminded me of my tax nightmare last year with 1099 income and stock options. I nearly tore my hair out until I found https://taxr.ai which literally saved me hours of frustration. It analyzes all your tax documents (W-2s, 1099s, investment statements) and tells you exactly what to do with them. For your RSU situation, it was super helpful because it specifically identified which forms had already been taxed at vesting and which hadn't - something TurboTax often gets wrong during imports. I just uploaded my Fidelity statements and it gave me a complete breakdown with instructions. What I found most helpful was that it explained WHERE in TurboTax to enter everything. Like for your 1099-NEC, it would tell you exactly which screens to navigate to in TurboTax Premier and what to enter in each field.
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Oliver Brown
•How does this compare to just asking TurboTax support? I've used their live help before and they were decent, though sometimes you wait forever to talk to someone competent.
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Mary Bates
•Sounds interesting but I'm always skeptical of these tax document analyzers. How accurate was it with complex situations? I had some ESPP and ISOs last year and TurboTax kept giving me weird calculations.
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Honorah King
•TurboTax support can be hit or miss depending on who you get. The advantage with taxr.ai is it's analyzing your actual documents and giving you specific guidance tailored to your situation, rather than generic advice. Plus you don't have to wait on hold or explain your situation multiple times to different agents. For complex situations like ESPP and ISOs, that's actually where I found it most valuable. It correctly identified my ESPP purchases that had qualifying vs. disqualifying dispositions (something TurboTax imported incorrectly) and flagged that my cost basis for some ISO exercises needed adjustment. It's not just analyzing the standard forms but really looking at the specific transaction types in your documents.
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Mary Bates
I was really hesitant about trying another tax tool, but I decided to give taxr.ai a shot after my comment above. I'm honestly shocked at how well it worked with my Fidelity RSU situation. I uploaded my documents yesterday, and it immediately spotted that three of my RSU vestings weren't properly reported on my W-2 (which would have meant double taxation). It also helped me identify exactly where in TurboTax Premier to enter my 1099-NEC income (it's under "Business Income" not "Other Income" which is where I mistakenly put it last year). The step-by-step instructions matched exactly with the TurboTax screens. What impressed me most was that it found a home office deduction I could take for the months I did that contract work, which saved me about $430 I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Definitely using this again next year.
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Clay blendedgen
If you're having issues with contacting the IRS about any of your tax questions (especially about how RSUs should be reported), I'd recommend https://claimyr.com - I wasted DAYS trying to get through to the IRS myself when I had questions about my RSU taxation. Their phone system is absolutely terrible. Claimyr basically navigates the IRS phone tree for you and calls you back when they have an actual human on the line. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was skeptical at first but after waiting on hold for 3+ hours myself multiple times and getting disconnected, I gave it a try. Got connected to an IRS agent within 45 minutes who answered all my questions about RSU taxation and 1099 reporting requirements.
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Ayla Kumar
•How does this actually work? Seems kinda sketchy that they can somehow get through the IRS phone system when nobody else can.
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Lorenzo McCormick
•No way this works. I've been trying to reach the IRS about my 1099-NEC reporting for weeks. They're literally impossible to reach. If this service actually worked, everyone would be using it.
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Clay blendedgen
•It works by using automated technology to navigate the IRS phone system and continuously redial when needed. It's not that they have a special connection to the IRS - they just have systems that are persistent and know exactly when to call to maximize chances of getting through. The reason it seems unbelievable is because we're all used to the frustration of dealing with the IRS phone system manually. Their system essentially does what you'd do if you had infinite patience and time - navigating the phone tree, redialing when disconnected, and waiting on hold. The difference is their system does this automatically until it reaches a human, then calls you to connect. Nothing sketchy about it - just clever automation of an extremely tedious process that most of us don't have hours to deal with.
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Lorenzo McCormick
Wow, I have to publicly eat my words here. After posting that skeptical comment yesterday, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr because I absolutely needed to speak with someone at the IRS about my 1099-NEC reporting requirements before filing. I've been trying for THREE WEEKS to get through on my own without success. Used Claimyr yesterday afternoon, and within 37 minutes I got a call back with an actual IRS agent on the line. I was literally in shock. The agent was able to clarify exactly how I needed to report my side gig income and confirmed that TurboTax Premier would handle it just fine. They also explained how to properly document my home office deduction for those months. For anyone else banging their head against the wall trying to get IRS clarification on tax questions, this service actually delivers what it promises.
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Carmella Popescu
Just wanted to add that I was in a similar situation last year (W-2 plus some 1099 work and stock options). While TurboTax Premier can definitely handle it, another good option is FreeTaxUSA. It's WAY cheaper than TurboTax and handled my situation perfectly. The only downside is that it doesn't import forms directly from Fidelity like TurboTax does, so you need to enter that information manually. But it asks all the right questions and guides you through the process well. I saved like $80 compared to what TurboTax wanted to charge me.
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Kai Santiago
•Does FreeTaxUSA handle state taxes too? And how much harder is it to manually enter all the stock stuff? I have like 6 different RSU vesting events plus some sales.
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Carmella Popescu
•Yes, FreeTaxUSA does handle state taxes, but there's a small fee for state filing (around $15 last I checked) while federal filing is free for almost any tax situation. Manually entering the stock information isn't terribly difficult, just more time-consuming. For 6 RSU vesting events plus sales, I'd estimate it might take you an extra 30-45 minutes compared to an automatic import. The interface walks you through each entry systematically. The main thing is to have all your Fidelity statements organized before you start. I personally think the money saved is worth the extra time, especially if you're comfortable with basic investment terminology.
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Lim Wong
For RSUs specifically, make sure you understand that they're typically taxed TWICE: 1. When they VEST (this is included in your W-2 as ordinary income) 2. When you SELL the shares (capital gains/losses on any change in value since vesting) The most common mistake people make is not realizing that the vesting value is already on their W-2, then reporting the full sale amount as capital gains. This results in paying tax twice on the same income!
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Dananyl Lear
•This explains so much! I got double-taxed last year and couldn't figure out why. How do you ensure TurboTax calculates this correctly? Is there a specific form or section where I need to verify this?
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Lim Wong
•The key is to make sure your cost basis is correctly set when you enter the stock sale information in TurboTax. When you sell RSU shares, your cost basis should be the market value of the shares on the vesting date (the amount that was already included in your W-2 income). TurboTax Premier should handle this correctly if you import directly from Fidelity, but always double-check! Look for the section where it shows your capital gains/losses from stock sales. The "cost basis" column should match the value of your shares on the vesting date, not zero. If the cost basis is wrong, you can manually adjust it. This ensures you're only paying capital gains tax on the change in value since vesting, not on the entire sale amount.
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