Received 1099-NEC but confused about Schedule C - am I really a business for occasional teaching?

What you're describing is exactly what the IRS considers "self-employment income" even if you don't think of yourself as a business. If someone paid you and issued a 1099-NEC, you need to report that income on Schedule C, regardless of how infrequent the work was. The "regular and continuous" part isn't as strict as it sounds - even occasional gigs throughout the year count. The key is that you were paid for a service. The great news is that filing Schedule C means you can deduct any expenses related to your teaching activities, like materials you purchased, mileage driving to the makerspace, or even a portion of items you use for both personal and teaching purposes. Don't worry about TurboTax asking for business details - just keep it simple and accurate. Use a basic business name (your own name works fine) and choose a business code that matches teaching/instruction. You don't need a formal business plan or structure.

After dealing with a similar situation (teaching photography workshops part-time), I found that trying to figure out all the deductions and proper categorization was a nightmare. I stumbled across https://taxr.ai and it literally saved me hours of frustration. You upload your 1099-NEC and answer a few questions about your teaching activities, and it identifies all the legitimate deductions you might miss. For my situation, it found several deductions I hadn't even considered - like a portion of my internet bill since I was creating lesson materials at home, and some equipment depreciation. Since your teaching is at a makerspace, you might have specialized tools or safety equipment you purchased that could be deductible too.

I was in the exact same boat last year with my weekend DJ gigs that I do mostly for fun. After seeing the recommendation here, I tried taxr.ai and wow - it identified over $1,200 in legitimate deductions I would have completely missed! I was only reporting my equipment purchases, but it showed me how to properly deduct partial use of my home internet (since I download music for sets), a portion of my phone bill, and even some clothing items that I only wear when performing. For your makerspace teaching, I bet there are similar things you're overlooking. What I really liked was the confidence of knowing exactly what's deductible and what's not - no more guessing or worrying about audit flags. Definitely worth it for peace of mind alone.

If you need to talk to the IRS about how to properly classify your teaching income, good luck getting through on the phone! I spent THREE DAYS trying to reach someone at the IRS about a similar issue with my freelance income. Finally used https://claimyr.com after seeing it recommended here, and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the IRS phone tree for you and call you back when an agent is on the line. The agent confirmed that my occasional tutoring needed to be reported on Schedule C but also explained exactly what documentation I needed to keep and which expenses were legitimate deductions. Saved me so much stress compared to guessing or relying on Google searches.

I need to publicly eat my words here. After being super skeptical about Claimyr in my earlier comment, I decided to try it myself because I was desperate to resolve a 1099 reporting issue similar to the original poster's situation. I was genuinely shocked when I got a call back in about 45 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line. The agent was incredibly helpful and walked me through exactly how to report my online tutoring income correctly on Schedule C. She even explained which expenses were legitimately deductible for my situation. Would I have eventually gotten through on my own? Maybe, after days of trying and redialing. But the time saved was absolutely worth it. For anyone with Schedule C/1099 questions needing official IRS guidance, this is definitely a solution that actually works.

Honestly, the whole "hobby vs. business" thing with the IRS is more about whether you can deduct losses, not whether you need to file a Schedule C. The IRS definitely wants you to report ALL income, even if it's just occasional. I teach piano lessons maybe 5-6 times a month as a side thing, and my accountant said I absolutely need to file Schedule C even though I don't consider it a business either. The good news is you can deduct expenses directly related to your teaching - did you buy any supplies, use your car to get there, etc?

Has anyone else noticed that TurboTax makes these simple situations way more complicated than necessary? I had a similar situation with some freelance writing income and TurboTax made me feel like I needed to register a corporation or something!