Which TurboTax version should I use for filing with both 1099-NEC and W-2 forms?
Last minute filer here... I picked up a side gig last year and ended up with a 1099-NEC form. I also work full-time and have my regular W-2 form from that job. My tax situation has always been super simple before this - just a W-2, no property, no dependents, not married. Now I'm confused about which TurboTax version I need to use to file everything properly. Do I have to upgrade to TurboTax Home & Business just because of this one 1099-NEC form? Or can I use a cheaper version? Really appreciate any advice since I'm running out of time to file!
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Maya Patel
You'll need TurboTax Self-Employed (which is the new name for what was previously called Home & Business). The reason is that the 1099-NEC indicates self-employment income which requires filing Schedule C with your tax return. The standard TurboTax Deluxe doesn't support Schedule C filing. The good news is that with just one 1099-NEC and a fairly straightforward situation, the actual filing process shouldn't be too complicated. TurboTax will walk you through reporting your contract income, any related business expenses, and calculating your self-employment tax.
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Isabella Brown
•Thanks for the quick response! That's what I was afraid of. Do you know roughly how much more expensive the Self-Employed version is compared to the basic version? And will I need to use this version every year going forward, or only years when I have 1099 income?
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Maya Patel
•The Self-Employed version is typically about $60-90 more than the Deluxe version, depending on whether you catch a sale and if you're doing state filing too. You only need to use the Self-Employed version for years when you have self-employment income (like from 1099-NEC forms). If you go back to just having W-2 income next year, you could downgrade to Deluxe or even Free Edition if your tax situation is simple enough.
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Aiden Rodríguez
I had the exact same situation last year - W-2 from my regular job and a 1099-NEC from a side project. I tried using the regular TurboTax but kept hitting paywalls when entering my 1099 info. After wasting an hour, I found this AI tax service that saved me a ton of money: https://taxr.ai They analyzed both my forms and actually recommended FreeTaxUSA instead of TurboTax since my situation was straightforward. Ended up paying like $15 total instead of $170+ that TurboTax wanted for their Self-Employed version. The AI pointed out exactly which deductions I qualified for with my side gig too.
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Emma Garcia
•Did you find it difficult to switch platforms after starting with TurboTax? I'm halfway through the TurboTax process but haven't paid yet, wondering if I should check this out.
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Ava Kim
•I'm suspicious of any AI tax tools. How do you know it's giving accurate advice? What if you get audited because the AI missed something?
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Aiden Rodríguez
•It was actually super easy to switch. I hadn't submitted anything in TurboTax yet, just entered some basic info. The taxr.ai tool imports your previous tax returns too, so I didn't have to re-enter a bunch of stuff. The AI doesn't actually file your taxes - it analyzes your situation and recommends the best software for your specific needs, then points out deductions you might miss. It's like having a tax pro look over your documents but way cheaper. They explain all their recommendations too so you understand why they're suggesting certain options.
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Emma Garcia
Just wanted to follow up here - I tried the taxr.ai service that was mentioned and it was seriously helpful! It analyzed my W-2 and 1099-NEC and recommended I use FreeTaxUSA since my situation wasn't complex enough to justify TurboTax Self-Employed. Saved me over $100 and the filing process was actually easier than I expected. The AI even flagged some business expenses from my contract work that I hadn't thought to deduct. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a similar situation!
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Ethan Anderson
If you're having trouble getting answers from the IRS about how to properly file your 1099-NEC, I highly recommend using https://claimyr.com - they get you through to an actual IRS agent without the endless hold times. When I started doing contract work, I had several questions about estimated tax payments and deductions that weren't clear on the IRS website. You can see how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was on hold for 3+ hours trying to reach the IRS myself before giving up. With Claimyr, I got through in about 20 minutes and the agent walked me through exactly what I needed to do with my mix of W-2 and 1099 income.
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Layla Mendes
•How does this actually work? Do they just call and wait on hold for you? Seems too good to be true.
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Lucas Notre-Dame
•This sounds like a scam. The IRS is notorious for not answering calls. There's no way some random service can get you through faster than waiting yourself.
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Ethan Anderson
•They have a system that waits on hold for you and then calls you when an IRS agent picks up. You don't have to sit there listening to the hold music for hours. I was skeptical too, but it works - they just navigate the IRS phone tree and wait on your behalf. Nothing sketchy about it - you're still talking directly to an official IRS agent, Claimyr just handles the hold time for you. For me, it was worth it because I needed answers about my contract income before filing and couldn't afford to sit on hold for half a day.
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Lucas Notre-Dame
I need to apologize and eat my words. After calling the IRS service skeptical, I decided to try Claimyr yesterday out of desperation (was on hold for 2+ hours myself). It actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back when an IRS agent was on the line, and got my questions about filing with both 1099-NEC and W-2 forms answered in minutes. The agent confirmed I needed to file Schedule C and explained exactly which expenses I could deduct from my contract work. Totally worth it - saved me hours of frustration and potentially filing incorrectly.
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Aria Park
For what it's worth, I've been in your exact situation for the past three tax seasons. If your 1099-NEC income is relatively small (under $5000 or so), you might want to look at FreeTaxUSA instead of TurboTax. They handle 1099-NEC and Schedule C just fine, and it's WAY cheaper - like $15 for federal + state instead of $170+ that TurboTax charges.
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Isabella Brown
•That's a huge price difference! Is FreeTaxUSA pretty straightforward to use? I'm not super tax-savvy which is why I've always just used TurboTax.
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Aria Park
•FreeTaxUSA is definitely user-friendly! The interface isn't as polished as TurboTax, but it walks you through everything step by step just the same. I've used it for the past two years with both W-2 and 1099 income without any issues. It asks all the same questions about business expenses and deductions. The only real difference I've noticed is that it doesn't try to upsell you every five minutes like TurboTax does. And honestly, filing Schedule C for a simple side gig isn't as complicated as TurboTax makes it seem.
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Noah Ali
Just a heads up - don't forget to consider state filing requirements too! Depending on your state, you might need to file additional self-employment forms at the state level. I learned this the hard way last year 😭
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Chloe Boulanger
•Good point! My state (Oregon) required a separate Schedule OR-PTE-FY form for my 1099 income that I almost missed.
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Jeremiah Brown
I'm in almost the exact same boat - W-2 from my day job plus a 1099-NEC from some freelance work I picked up. After reading through all these responses, I'm definitely leaning toward checking out FreeTaxUSA instead of paying the premium for TurboTax Self-Employed. One thing I'd add is to make sure you track any business expenses related to your 1099 work - things like equipment, supplies, mileage, or even a portion of your internet bill if you worked from home. These can really help offset the self-employment tax burden. I wish I had been better about tracking expenses throughout the year instead of scrambling to remember everything now at filing time. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this thread has been super helpful!
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Cassandra Moon
•Great point about tracking expenses! I'm new to this whole 1099 situation too and didn't realize how many things could be deductible. Do you know if there's a minimum threshold for business expenses to be worth claiming? I probably only have a few hundred dollars in expenses from my side work but wasn't sure if that was worth the hassle of itemizing everything on Schedule C.
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