Is TurboTax easy enough for W-2 and multiple 1099 income or should I hire a tax pro?
I'm stressing about my tax situation this year. I work a regular W-2 job but I also have multiple side hustles that gave me 1099s (DoorDash, Etsy and some freelance web design). The thing that's really throwing me off is that I started selling stuff through TikTok Shop around May last year and I'm pretty sure I made over $1,500 there, but I haven't received any 1099 from them yet. Not even sure if they'll send one even though I definitely crossed the $600 threshold. I've always used TurboTax in the past when I just had my W-2, but now with all these different income sources I'm wondering if it's still going to be easy enough to handle myself or if I should just bite the bullet and hire someone? I can probably figure out how much I made from TikTok Shop in the app, but will TurboTax walk me through reporting income without a 1099? Anyone have experience with a similar situation?
18 comments
Join the conversation
Mei Lin
You should be fine with TurboTax! I've been using it for years with a similar situation - W-2 plus multiple 1099s. The software walks you through everything step by step. For your TikTok Shop income, you're right that you still need to report it even if you don't receive a 1099. TurboTax has a section for "Income without a 1099" where you can enter those earnings manually. Just keep good records of what you made - take screenshots of your earnings in the app or download any available statements. The important thing is that you'll want to use TurboTax Self-Employed version since you have 1099 income. The basic version won't have all the forms you need. It'll guide you through deducting any business expenses related to your side hustles too, which can really help reduce what you owe.
0 coins
Liam Fitzgerald
•Does TurboTax help you figure out what expenses you can deduct? I'm in a similar situation and honestly have no idea what I can write off for my Etsy shop. Also, is it easy to figure out quarterly estimated payments for next year?
0 coins
Mei Lin
•Yes, TurboTax does a great job walking you through potential deductions! It asks you questions about your business activities and suggests deductions that might apply to you. For Etsy, it would cover things like materials, shipping supplies, home office space, and even a portion of your internet if you use it for your shop. For quarterly estimated payments, TurboTax will calculate what you should pay each quarter for the following year based on your current year's income. At the end of filing, it gives you vouchers with the amounts and due dates. Super straightforward and it takes the guesswork out of it.
0 coins
Amara Nnamani
I was in exactly your situation last year - W-2 job plus a bunch of side gigs with 1099s and some without. I struggled for hours trying to figure everything out on TurboTax and kept second-guessing myself about deductions. Eventually I tried https://taxr.ai and it was a complete game changer. You just upload your tax documents (even incomplete ones), and it helps identify all possible deductions based on your situation. For income without 1099s, it gives you specific guidance on how to report it properly. I was worried about missing something with my Uber income since they didn't send a 1099, but taxr.ai walked me through exactly how to handle it.
0 coins
Giovanni Mancini
•How does it work with business expenses? I have receipts for everything but they're super disorganized and all over the place. Does it help categorize them or do I need to have everything organized first?
0 coins
NebulaNinja
•I've heard of these AI tax tools but I'm skeptical. Does it actually give you proper advice or is it just generic stuff you could find on Google? And is it secure to upload all your financial documents to some random website?
0 coins
Amara Nnamani
•It actually has a really cool feature where you can upload photos of receipts and it automatically categorizes them for you. I had a shoebox full of receipts and just took pictures of them all - saved me hours of sorting. It even flags which expenses might be questionable so you can be careful about what you claim. For security, they use bank-level encryption and don't store your documents permanently. I was concerned about that too so I did some research before uploading anything. They explained that they analyze your docs, extract the relevant info, then delete the originals. I felt comfortable enough with their security approach after reading through their policies.
0 coins
NebulaNinja
Update: So I was the skeptic about taxr.ai in the thread above, but I decided to give it a try after struggling with TurboTax for days. I have to admit, it was WAY better than I expected. I uploaded my W-2 and the 1099s I had, and it immediately spotted a deduction I missed related to my freelance work. For my missing 1099 situation (I drive for Lyft and they didn't send one), the guidance was super specific and helpful. It showed me exactly where to find my income info in the Lyft app and how to enter it correctly. The whole process took about 30 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I was spending going in circles on TurboTax. Just wanted to follow up since my skepticism was completely wrong!
0 coins
Fatima Al-Suwaidi
I see several people recommending software, but honestly if you have multiple income sources and don't have all your 1099s, you might want to get professional help - at least for this first year. I was in this exact situation and spent weeks trying to get through to the IRS with questions about my missing 1099s. Finally used https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes (you can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). The IRS agent explained that I'm still responsible for reporting all income even without the forms, but gave me specific guidance on how to do it correctly. After that conversation, I felt WAY more confident about filing. It might be worth talking to an actual IRS agent about your specific situation with TikTok Shop to make sure you're covered.
0 coins
Dylan Mitchell
•Wait this seems too good to be true lol. The IRS never answers their phones. How does this service actually work? Do they have some special connection to the IRS or something?
0 coins
Sofia Morales
•This honestly sounds like a scam. There's no way to skip the IRS phone queue. Plus why would you want to talk to the IRS directly? That's like asking to get audited. No thanks.
0 coins
Fatima Al-Suwaidi
•It works by continuously calling the IRS until they get through, then they transfer the call to you once an agent is on the line. They have an automated system that keeps redialing - something most of us don't have time or patience to do. Nothing shady or special access, they're just persistent with the technology. It's definitely not asking to get audited! The IRS agents are actually really helpful when you have legitimate questions. They don't flag your account or anything just because you called with a question. In my case, the agent walked me through exactly how to report income without a 1099 and explained what documentation I should keep just in case. It was actually reassuring rather than scary.
0 coins
Sofia Morales
Ok I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr in my comment above. After getting frustrated trying to figure out my missing 1099 situation, I decided to give it a try despite my skepticism. The service actually worked exactly as advertised. I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes (on a Tuesday afternoon). The agent explained exactly how to handle my missing 1099 from my Twitch streaming income and what records I needed to keep. They weren't intimidating at all - actually super helpful and just wanted to make sure I reported correctly. Totally worth it to get official answers straight from the source instead of relying on Google or Reddit. Consider me converted from skeptic to believer!
0 coins
Dmitry Popov
I've been doing my taxes with a combo of gig work and regular W-2 for years. Here's my take: If your side hustle stuff is pretty straightforward (like driving or selling things online), TurboTax Self-Employed will do the job fine. Just track your income from TikTok Shop in a spreadsheet if you don't get a 1099. BUT if you have more complicated situations - like home office deductions, inventory, depreciation, etc. - paying a CPA for the first year can be worth it. They'll set you up with a good system and you can probably do it yourself after that. Whatever you do, DON'T use the free or basic versions of tax software. They'll let you start the process and then hit you with "you need to upgrade" once you get to the self-employment forms.
0 coins
Ava Garcia
•Any recommendations for tracking apps? I have like 5 different side hustles and keeping track of everything is a nightmare.
0 coins
Dmitry Popov
•I've had good results with QuickBooks Self-Employed for tracking throughout the year. It connects to your bank accounts and credit cards, then automatically categorizes expenses. You can also use it to track mileage if you drive for any gigs. It's about $15/month but honestly saves me hours of headaches at tax time. If you want something free, a simple Google Sheet works too - just be disciplined about entering your income and expenses regularly. The key is separating business vs. personal spending, which gets messy fast if you're not tracking consistently.
0 coins
StarSailor}
Don't forget about quarterly estimated tax payments if you're making decent money from your side gigs! I learned this the hard way last year and got hit with a penalty because I didn't know I needed to pay throughout the year.
0 coins
Miguel Silva
•How much do you need to make before you have to do the quarterly payments? I make maybe $800-1000 a month from my side gig.
0 coins