Do I have to complete a Schedule SE for my freelance work alongside my full-time job?

Yes, you absolutely need to file Schedule SE if you have self-employment income reported on Schedule C! The Schedule SE is how you calculate and pay your self-employment taxes (Social Security and Medicare taxes), which are separate from income taxes. If you had net earnings from self-employment of $400 or more, you're required to file Schedule SE. This applies even if you have a full-time job where your employer already withholds Social Security and Medicare taxes from your paycheck. As for FreeTaxUSA, it should prompt you to complete Schedule SE after you enter your Schedule C information. But software isn't perfect - sometimes you need to look for it or the program might miss it if certain thresholds aren't met in the way they expect.

After reading this post, I was in the EXACT same situation last year! I had a full-time job but started doing graphic design on the side and had no idea about Schedule SE. I found this site https://taxr.ai that saved me so much stress - you just upload your docs and it tells you exactly what forms you need and what you might have missed. I uploaded my 1099s and previous year's return, and it immediately flagged that I was missing Schedule SE. It also explained how much self-employment tax I would owe and how to file an amended return correctly.

Just wanted to follow up and say I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here, and wow - it found TWO forms I was missing, not just Schedule SE! Turns out I also needed to file Form 8962 for my healthcare premium tax credit that FreeTaxUSA somehow missed. The breakdown of what I needed to pay for self-employment tax was super clear, and it even showed me some home office deductions I could take to reduce my taxable income. Definitely filing an amended return now but at least I know exactly what I need to fix!

If you need to talk to the IRS about your missing Schedule SE situation, good luck getting through on the phone! I spent 3+ hours on hold last month trying to sort out a similar issue. Finally found this service called Claimyr https://claimyr.com that got me a callback from the IRS in under 45 minutes. They have a demo video here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was able to talk to an actual IRS agent who walked me through exactly how to file my amended return for the missing Schedule SE and even told me how to request a reduction in penalties since it was an honest mistake.

I'm actually embarrassed to say this, but I have to follow up on my skeptical comment. I tried Claimyr yesterday after posting here because I was desperate to talk to someone about my own tax situation (also related to missing Schedule SE, coincidentally). Got a call back from the IRS in about 35 minutes! The agent explained that I needed to file Form 1040-X to amend my return and include the Schedule SE. She even walked me through calculating the penalties, which weren't nearly as bad as I feared. Saved me hours of stress and waiting on hold!

Just to add some clarity on Schedule SE - there are actually two versions: the short Schedule SE (Section A) and the long Schedule SE (Section B). Most people with simple self-employment situations can use the short form. You'll use the long form if: - Your net earnings from self-employment exceed $142,800 for 2025 - You're using an optional method to figure your net earnings - You had church employee income reported on Form W-2

Just to make sure everyone knows - FreeTaxUSA SHOULD automatically create Schedule SE when you enter self-employment income on Schedule C. I use it every year for my side gig. Maybe check if you entered something that made the software think you were exempt?