How to properly report 1099-K and 1099-NEC for social media work and online sales

Hey everyone! I'm freaking out a bit with tax season here. I do social media management on the side and get paid through PayPal. I also sell stuff on Mercari and eBay to make extra cash. This year I received both a 1099-K and a 1099-NEC for 2024 and I'm totally confused about where to report them in my taxes. I've started using TurboTax and went through the self-employment/side gig section. I entered all my income and expenses but I'm not sure if I need to specifically mention these 1099 forms somewhere special? Like do I need to enter them separately or is the income already covered when I listed all my earnings? The 1099-K shows about $5,800 from my online selling and the 1099-NEC shows around $3,200 from the social media work. I just don't want to mess this up and get in trouble with the IRS. Any help would be super appreciated!!

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18 comments

StarStrider

•8M

You're on the right track! The good news is that TurboTax generally walks you through this pretty well. Here's what you need to know: For your 1099-NEC (the social media work): This goes on Schedule C as self-employment income. When TurboTax asks if you received any tax forms for your business, you'll select 1099-NEC and enter the information exactly as it appears on the form. For your 1099-K (PayPal, Mercari, eBay): This also goes on Schedule C, but it works a bit differently. The 1099-K only reports the total payments processed through those platforms, not your actual profit. You'll still need to enter all your business expenses to offset this income - things like shipping materials, platform fees, cost of goods sold, etc. Make sure you don't double-count income! If part of the money on your 1099-K represents the same social media work reported on your 1099-NEC, only count it once.

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StarStrider

•8M

For selling personal items, it's still reported on Schedule C, but here's the important part: if you're selling personal items for less than you originally paid for them, you actually don't have a taxable profit. TurboTax will let you indicate this was selling personal items, and you'll enter your original cost of the items to offset the income. Yes, you can absolutely deduct PayPal fees, shipping costs, packaging materials, and other direct expenses related to selling those items. TurboTax has sections specifically for these business expenses. Just make sure you keep receipts for everything you deduct.

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Carmen Ruiz

•8M

I went through a similar nightmare last year with my side gig income. After hours of research and stress, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was a game-changer for my 1099 situation. It analyzed both my 1099-K and 1099-NEC forms and explained exactly how they should be reported. It even flagged potential deductions I was missing related to my online selling that saved me over $600 in taxes. The best part was the plain-English explanation of how PayPal and platform sales get reported - turns out I was accidentally double-counting some income before. It basically translated the IRS gibberish into something I could actually understand.

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Carmen Ruiz

•8M

You still use TurboTax (or whatever tax software you prefer). The taxr.ai service gives you specific guidance on how to properly enter everything in your tax software. It's more like having an expert look over your shoulder and point out "put this number here" or "don't forget this deduction." As for personal information, I just uploaded my 1099 forms and answered some basic questions about my business activities. It doesn't need your full tax return or anything invasive. It specifically focuses on analyzing your 1099 forms and providing guidance based on your business type. It helped me understand exactly which expenses were deductible for my specific situation.

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Zoe Alexopoulos

•8M

I was really hesitant about using any additional tax services, but after struggling with my Etsy and freelance income situation last month, I finally tried taxr.ai. I was surprised at how straightforward it was. It immediately spotted that I was missing home office deductions that applied to my situation and explained exactly how to categorize my Etsy sales vs my contract work. The guidance on separating personal item sales from actual business income was super helpful - turns out I was overpaying by reporting everything as pure profit! The step-by-step TurboTax instructions saved me so much time compared to all the random conflicting advice I was finding online. Definitely less stressful than my previous tax filing experiences.

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Jamal Anderson

•8M

Anyone else find it IMPOSSIBLE to reach the IRS with questions about 1099-K vs 1099-NEC reporting? I spent 3 hours on hold last week trying to get clarification on exactly this issue and never got through. I was about to give up when a friend recommended Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) - you can watch how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c It got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the usual 2+ hour wait. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle multiple 1099 forms for the same business and helped me understand what documentation I need to keep for my PayPal transactions in case of an audit.

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Jamal Anderson

•8M

It's not magic - they use an automated system that handles the waiting for you. Basically, it calls the IRS and navigates through all the prompts, then calls you when it reaches a real person. You don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. No scam at all - I talked directly with an IRS representative who answered my specific questions about reporting marketplace sales versus services on different 1099 forms. The agent confirmed I needed to separate my eBay sales from my freelance income on different Schedule C forms even though some payments came through the same PayPal account.

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QuantumQuasar

•8M

I need to eat my words. After my skeptical comment yesterday, I decided to try Claimyr myself since I had a complicated question about my 1099-K from Etsy and couldn't get through to the IRS. It actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back within 25 minutes and spoke with an IRS agent who explained how to properly document the difference between my materials costs and actual profits. The agent even emailed me some specific IRS guidance about online marketplace reporting requirements. I've been filing taxes for 15 years and this is the first time I've actually been able to get clear answers directly from the IRS during the busy season. Definitely keeping this service in my contacts for next year.

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Liam McGuire

•8M

The general rule is if you expect to owe $1,000 or more in taxes for the year from self-employment, you should make quarterly payments. With your combined income from both sources around $9,000, you'll likely need to make these payments. For calculating the amount, you can either pay 100% of last year's tax liability divided by 4 (the safe harbor method), or 90% of what you expect to owe this year. I use the IRS Form 1040-ES worksheet to figure it out. The due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year.

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