Where do I report scholarship income on Form 1040? (Plus questions about 401k distributions and 1099-NEC)

The scholarship question is fairly straightforward! For the "to the left" instruction, that refers to the space on the physical form where you would write "SCH" and the amount. When filing electronically, most tax software has a section specifically for scholarships and grants where you can enter this information. The software will then handle putting it in the right place. For combining your income, yes, you would add the scholarship money ($11,000) and your job earnings ($8,235.45) for a total of $19,235.45 on the "Wages, salaries, tips" line. Regarding your 401(k) distribution, you'll need Form 1099-R from the plan administrator showing the distribution. Form 5329 is only needed if you're subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty and don't qualify for an exception. For what's "includible in income" - that's the taxable portion of the distribution (typically shown in Box 2a of your 1099-R). For your 1099-NEC tutoring income, yes, you'll need Schedule C even though it's a small amount. Don't worry about the "business" terminology - many people with side gigs file this form. You'll just enter the company that paid you as your "business name" and use code 611691 for "Exam Preparation and Tutoring." You can deduct any expenses directly related to your tutoring work. And yes, you'll need Schedule 1 to report the self-employment income from Schedule C.

Just wanted to share that I was in a similar situation last year with scholarship money and a side job. I was super confused and wasted hours trying to figure it all out before I found https://taxr.ai which literally saved my sanity. I uploaded my 1098-T and other forms, and it analyzed everything and explained exactly where to enter my scholarship income, which turned out to be different than what I initially thought. It also caught that I was eligible for the American Opportunity Credit which I would have totally missed. What really helped was that it explained how the scholarship reporting works with electronic filing - turns out most tax software has a special section for scholarships that handles the "SCH" notation automatically. For the 401k distribution question, it confirmed I didn't need to pay the early withdrawal penalty because I qualified for an exception.

Guys I just tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and I'm actually shocked at how helpful it was! I uploaded my 1099-NEC forms and asked about Schedule C, and it gave me step-by-step instructions tailored to my specific situation. It identified the correct business code for my graphic design work (which I had no idea about) and even suggested some deductions I didn't realize I could take for my home office and software subscriptions. The scholarship question was also covered in their explanation section - turns out the reporting method depends on whether you're using tax software or paper filing. For electronic filing, most software has a dedicated input section for scholarships that handles the special coding automatically. Best part is I didn't have to pay the ridiculous upgrade fees my tax software was trying to charge me for the "self-employed" version. This literally saved me over $100!

If you're still having issues with the 401k distribution part, I had a similar problem last year and ended up needing to talk directly with an IRS agent to sort it out. Tried calling for weeks with no luck until someone recommended https://claimyr.com - they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent was actually super helpful and walked me through exactly how to report my early 401k withdrawal correctly. They confirmed I didn't need Form 5329 since my distribution qualified for one of the penalty exceptions. Also cleared up my confusion about what "includible in income" meant on the form (it's basically the taxable portion that shows up in Box 2a of your 1099-R). I was surprised how quickly they resolved my questions - definitely beat spending hours on hold or getting disconnected.

I need to eat my words from earlier. I was super skeptical about Claimyr but decided to try it because I was completely stuck on how to report my 401k distribution (similar to OP's situation). I couldn't believe it when I got a call back with an actual IRS agent on the line in about 30 minutes. The agent confirmed exactly what I needed to do with my early distribution and explained that I qualified for an exception to the 10% penalty because I used the money for qualified education expenses. She also explained exactly where to report the scholarship income and confirmed that most tax software has a specific input section for scholarships that handles the "SCH" notation automatically. I would have spent days trying to figure this out on my own or paid a tax preparer hundreds of dollars. Definitely recommending this to friends who are stuck with tax questions.

For the 1099-NEC specifically, I file one every year for my side gig. It's really not as scary as it seems! Schedule C is basically just telling the IRS "here's what I made and here's what I spent to make it." Even if you have zero expenses, you still file it but just put $0 for all the expense categories. One thing to note: you said you don't need Schedule SE because it's under $400, which is mostly right, but you still need to include the self-employment income on your total income for the year. That flows through from your Schedule C to Schedule 1 and then to your 1040. For tax software, many have free options that include Schedule C now! Try the IRS Free File options before paying for TurboTax.

Just a heads up for the scholarship reporting - I was in the exact same situation last year and most tax software actually has a dedicated section for entering scholarship income. When you enter your 1098-T, it'll ask about the amounts and whether they were used for qualified education expenses. The software then automatically handles the "SCH" notation so you don't have to worry about the "to the left" instructions. For the 1099-NEC tutoring income, I also had a small amount last year from a teaching assistant position. The Schedule C looks intimidating but it's actually super simple for straightforward situations like tutoring. You'll just enter the income, any expenses (even if zero), and the software calculates the rest.