There is no minimum for an individual to report his/her income. Businesses are not required to report that they paid you money to the IRS until they have paid you at least $600 in a year but you are still legally required to report all of your income on your annual return. You won't have to pay self employment taxes, however, if your net earnings from self employment don't exceed $400.

What about social security?
 

Sorry, I know this is an old thread, but....

I have always reported my small amount of income from officiating as income on 1040. Do I need to send the IRS and/or social security money in addition to what I pay annually in taxes and bi-weekly in social security from my full-time place of employment?

Is this going to get complicated?

Probably a good time to evive this thread!
 

I'm not an expert but I don't think so. But you should use Schedule C and SE to report these earnings. Also, you should use them to be able to deduct the expenses that go along with officiating. The self employment tax is paid in lieu of regular taxes and Social Security.

Since my wife works at home as an independent medical transcriptionist, our tax advisor recommended we incorporate two years ago. We are now an S-Corp and are engaged in the business of "Providing eclectic services to sports and business" (our tag line).

I get all my 1099s made out to our federal tax id number and we use a payroll service to pay us a salary once a month. Yes, we are paying employer taxes, but we are saving a lot of tax dollars by taking dividends instead of salary.

If you have a substantial chunk of your total household income being paid on 1099s, I would strongly suggest you check with your tax advisor to see if there's any advantage to you by incorporating.

In any event, I cannot stress strongly enough that you join NASO. The liability insurance coverage alone is worth the price. Go to naso.org for more info.

I've just looked at the schedules and instructions for Self Employment.

Questions:

Can I claim as expenses my uniform (whistle, shoes, pants)?
What about dues?
What about manuals and training costs?

Any help will be greatly appreciated as this is my first time filing..... I actuall got paid to do this some last year!

With the usual caveats about tax advice, yes -- you can deduct all those items.

GREAT INFO
 

Everyone this is some great information. Just wish I had this knowledge years ago. Barry standby for a e-mail.

As Bob says, yes with the usual caveats. You can also
deduct travel to games from your place of work
and travel between different game sites. It's a
good idea to keep an up to date log on this. Remember I'm
not an expert and I don't play one on TV.

Barry,

Can I deduct the cost of a gym membership on the schedule C because it is a business expense. As a referee you need to be in shape and maintain that throughout the year, so could I deduct it as a business expense? Thanks for your help

Buck