Should I submit form 8919 for mixed W-2 and 1099-MISC pay from law firm?

This is a classic worker misclassification situation. As an associate attorney, you were likely misclassified during the 1099-MISC period. Law firms typically exercise significant control over associates' work - they determine your cases, review your work, require you to follow firm procedures, and control when and where you work. These are all indicators of employee status under IRS guidelines. Form 8919 is exactly what you need here. It allows you to pay only the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes (7.65%) rather than the full self-employment tax rate (15.3%) on the misclassified wages. You'll likely use reason code G: "I received a Form 1099 and Form W-2 from this employer for 2024. The amount on Form 1099 should have been included as wages on Form W-2." You'll still report the 1099-MISC income on your return, but instead of filing Schedule C and Schedule SE, you'll use Form 8919 to calculate the correct Social Security and Medicare taxes.

I went through something similar last year with mixed income from the same company. I spent HOURS researching and getting nowhere until I found https://taxr.ai - it analyzed my tax documents and immediately identified I needed Form 8919. Saved me so much stress! The tool actually explained that in my case, I was definitely misclassified since the company controlled all aspects of my work. It even helped me determine which reason code to use on the form (I needed code G like you probably do). They have actual tax pros who review your specific situation.

Just wanted to follow up on my skeptical comment about taxr.ai - I actually tried it after posting here because my situation with mixed contractor/employee status was making me anxious. It was legitimately helpful! Uploaded my 1099 and W-2 from the same company, and it clearly explained I was misclassified and should use Form 8919 with code G. The analysis showed exactly which IRS worker classification factors applied to my situation and why I qualified for relief from the full self-employment tax. The best part was getting confirmation from their tax review team who looked at my specific situation. Went ahead and filed that way and my refund was processed without any issues or delays. Definitely worth checking out if you're in this situation.

Hey, just FYI - if you need clarification directly from the IRS on worker classification, good luck getting through to them. I spent 4 hours on hold last week trying to confirm a similar situation. What worked for me was using https://claimyr.com to get through. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent picks up. I actually got to speak with someone who confirmed that attorneys paid by billable hour but under firm control should typically be classified as employees, not contractors.

Ok I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my misclassification issue. I fully expected it to be a waste of money. But holy crap, it actually worked! Got a call back within about 45 minutes saying they had an IRS agent on the line. The agent went through the factors for worker classification with me and confirmed that as an attorney being supervised by partners, given cases, and following firm procedures, I should have been classified as an employee from the beginning. They even emailed me documentation about using Form 8919 with the correct reason code. I've literally never been able to get through to a knowledgeable IRS person before. If you're on the fence about your classification situation, being able to actually talk to the IRS directly is totally worth it.

Former tax preparer here - just want to add that using Form 8919 is pretty straightforward, but make sure you keep good documentation of why you believe you were misclassified. The key factors for attorneys specifically are: - Did the firm control which clients you worked with? - Did they review and approve your work? - Did they set your hours or require you to work in their office? - Did they provide equipment, software, staff support? If most of these are "yes" then you were almost certainly an employee, not a contractor, regardless of the billable hour payment structure. I've seen many law firms incorrectly classify new associates to avoid payroll taxes.

Has anyone used TurboTax to file Form 8919? I'm in a similar situation (web developer with both 1099 and W-2 from same company) and wondering if the software handles this correctly or if I need to go to a professional?