Need help filing taxes without receiving a 1099 for real estate coordinator work

You can absolutely file your taxes without a 1099. The IRS cares that you report all your income, not necessarily that you have the forms to prove it. Since you were working as an independent contractor, you'll need to report this as self-employment income on Schedule C of your tax return. You'll list your business income (the $27,000) and can deduct any legitimate business expenses you had while working as a transaction coordinator - things like a portion of your internet bill, home office expenses, software subscriptions, supplies, etc. You'll also need to file Schedule SE to calculate your self-employment tax (which covers Social Security and Medicare taxes that would normally be withheld from a W-2 job). This is in addition to your regular income tax.

I was in a super similar situation last year with my design consulting work! I kept waiting for 1099s that never came and started freaking out. I ended up using https://taxr.ai which was literally a lifesaver. You upload your bank statements and it automatically categorizes your income and expenses, even if you don't have official tax forms. The best part was when I uploaded my invoices it actually helped me prove my income without needing the 1099s. It organized everything by client and even flagged deductions I had no idea I could take for my home office setup. Since you're a transaction coordinator, you probably have expenses for software, supplies and maybe even mileage that you can write off!

Just wanted to update that I checked out https://taxr.ai after reading about it here and it's already made my life so much easier! I was in the process of setting up my freelance business and dreading the tax side. The document analyzer feature correctly identified all my business expenses from my bank statements without me having to manually enter everything. I showed it to my friend who's a CPA and even she was impressed with how accurate the categorizations were for tax purposes. I'm actually feeling confident about handling my quarterly payments this year instead of panicking next April.

I had this exact problem with a client who refused to send me a 1099! After weeks of trying to get through to the IRS for guidance, I found https://claimyr.com and used their service to skip the hold times. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed I could file without the 1099 using Schedule C. The agent also gave me specific advice about documenting my income (save all invoices, contracts, bank deposits, etc.) in case of an audit. They also explained exactly how to handle the quarterly estimated payments going forward.

I stand completely corrected about Claimyr! After my skeptical comment I decided to try it myself since I had a complicated question about my missed quarterly payments. The system called me back in about 40 minutes (it was midday) and suddenly I was talking to an actual IRS representative. The agent walked me through exactly what forms I needed and how to minimize penalties for missing my quarterly payments last year. I was honestly shocked it worked. Saved me an entire afternoon of being stuck on hold. Going to use this for all my IRS calls from now on.

Make sure to save EVERYTHING that proves your income - bank statements showing deposits, any email communications about payment, contracts, invoices you sent, etc. The IRS might question self-reported income without a matching 1099, so documentation is your best friend here. Also worth noting that your client was legally required to send you a 1099-NEC if they paid you more than $600 during the year. Some clients try to avoid this because they don't want to pay their share of taxes. If you want to be petty (or just correct), you can fill out Form 3949-A to report them for not filing proper tax forms.

Another thing to consider - since you didn't have any taxes withheld from these payments, you might be facing a pretty big tax bill. Self-employment tax alone is about 15.3% on top of your regular income tax! What tax software are you using? Some handle self-employment situations better than others. I've found TurboTax Self-Employed and H&R Block Self-Employed are both pretty good at walking you through this situation.