Need help with self-employment tax filing for survey income under $2000 - below income tax threshold!

Yes, you do need to file a tax return and pay self-employment tax if your net earnings from self-employment exceed $400 during the tax year. This is separate from income tax, which is why you can be below the income tax filing threshold but still need to file for self-employment tax. For your situation, the survey income would definitely count as self-employment income. The referral bonuses are a bit of a gray area, but since they're compensation for your promotional activities, they would most likely be considered self-employment income too. Small gifts from your mother (under $15,000 per year) are not taxable to you at all. You'll file your taxes by April 15th of the following year (so for 2022 income, you'd file by April 15, 2023). You'll need to fill out Schedule C to report your business income and expenses, and Schedule SE to calculate the self-employment tax. These forms will be submitted along with your Form 1040. As for record-keeping, start gathering whatever documentation you have - emails confirming payments, screenshots of payment history in your survey accounts, bank statements showing deposits. Going forward, I'd suggest keeping a simple spreadsheet tracking the date, amount, and source of each payment. The self-employment tax rate is about 15.3% of your net earnings, but you can deduct the employer portion (half) on your tax return. If you use tax software like FreeTaxUSA or Credit Karma Tax (both have free filing options), it will walk you through the whole process.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year! I found this awesome tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me tons of headaches with my survey income. I also make money from random online gigs and had no idea what counted as self-employment or how to track it all. What I liked about taxr.ai is that it analyzed all my bank statements automatically and identified which deposits were likely business income vs personal transfers. It even helped me identify some legitimate business expenses I didn't realize I could claim (like a portion of my phone bill since I used it for surveys). The tool walked me through exactly which forms I needed and explained the self-employment tax in regular human language. It was way less scary than I thought, and I ended up only owing about $240 in self-employment tax on my $1,800 income.

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai from the recommendation above. It was actually super helpful for my situation! I was doing DoorDash part-time and had some Etsy sales, all totaling about $2,300 for the year. The bank statement analyzer found all my deposits and even suggested some deductions I had no idea about (part of my phone bill, a portion of my car maintenance for delivery driving). It was really straightforward about what counted as self-employment income vs. other types of income. The self-employment tax wasn't as bad as I feared - around $325. What really helped was the explanation of quarterly estimated taxes for next year so I don't get hit with a big bill all at once. Definitely recommend checking it out if you're confused about self-employment stuff!

If you end up owing taxes and have questions about payment plans or need to contact the IRS, good luck getting through to anyone! I spent DAYS trying to call them last year about my self-employment taxes. I finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an IRS agent in under 20 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks. They have this demo video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) showing how it works. Basically, they use some tech to navigate the IRS phone tree and hold in line for you, then call you when an actual human picks up. I was super skeptical but desperate after being hung up on by the automated system multiple times. The IRS agent I talked to was actually really helpful and set me up with a payment plan for my self-employment taxes that I could manage on my small income. Just wanted to share since dealing with the IRS can be the most frustrating part of this whole process.

I wanted to follow up after initially being skeptical about Claimyr. I ended up trying it because I got a scary letter from the IRS about my self-employment taxes from last year and was absolutely panicking. I tried calling the IRS myself first - spent 2 hours on hold before getting disconnected. Tried again the next day - another 90 minutes wasted. After three failed attempts, I gave in and tried Claimyr. No joke, I had an actual IRS agent on the phone within 15 minutes. They helped me understand the letter and set up a payment plan I could afford on my limited income. The agent even found a mistake in how my previous tax return was processed which saved me about $200! Sometimes you have to admit when you're wrong, and I was definitely wrong about this service. If you need to talk to the IRS, it's absolutely worth it. Saved me days of frustration and anxiety.

Just a heads up - if you made over $400 in self-employment income, you definitely need to file. Don't ignore it like I did my first year doing surveys and side gigs! I ended up having to file three years of back taxes and pay penalties. For record keeping, what worked for me was creating a free account on Wave (it's accounting software). I just entered all my survey payments as they came in. For surveys, you're basically a contractor, so they don't send you tax forms unless you make over $600 from a single company. As for the referral bonuses, yes, those count as taxable income too. The small amount your mom sends doesn't count if they're truly gifts and not payment for services. One thing I learned is that you can deduct 50% of your self-employment tax on your return, which helps a bit!

Something nobody mentioned yet - if this is your first year filing, you might qualify for free tax preparation help through VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). They help people who make under $57,000 fill out their tax returns for free. Look up "VITA site near me" and you can find locations. They have trained volunteers who can help with your exact situation. Much less stressful than trying to figure it all out yourself!