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Use Schedule SE (Form 1040) to figure the tax due on net earnings from self-employment. The Social Security Administration uses the information from Schedule SE to figure your benefits under the social security program. This tax applies no matter how old you are and even if you are already getting social security or Medicare benefits.
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You must file Schedule SE if:
The amount on line 4 of Short Schedule SE or line 4c of Long Schedule SE is $400 or more, or
You had church employee income of $108.28 or more. Income from services you performed as a minister or a member of a religious order is not church employee income. See Employees of Churches and Church Organizations.
You must pay SE tax if you had net earnings of $400 or more as a self-employed person. If you are in business (farm or nonfarm) for yourself, you are self-employed.
You must also pay SE tax on your share of certain partnership income and your guaranteed payments. See Partnership Income or Loss, later.
If you had church employee income of $108.28 or more, you must pay SE tax. Church employee income is wages you received as an employee (other than as a minister or member of a religious order) of a church or qualified church-controlled organization that has a certificate in effect electing an exemption from employer social security and Medicare taxes.
In most cases, you must pay SE tax on salaries and other income for services you performed as a minister, a member of a religious order who has not taken a vow of poverty, or a Christian Science practitioner. But if you filed Form 4361 and received IRS approval, you will be exempt from paying SE tax on those net earnings. If you had no other income subject to SE tax, enter “Exempt—Form 4361” on Form 1040, line 56, or Form 1040NR, line 54. However, if you had other net earnings of $400 or more subject to SE tax, see line A at the top of Long Schedule SE.
If you have ever filed Form 2031 to elect social security coverage on your earnings as a minister, you cannot revoke that election.
If you must pay SE tax, include this income on either Short or Long Schedule SE, line 2. But do not report it on Long Schedule SE, line 5a; it is not considered church employee income. Also, include on line 2:
The rental value of a home or an allowance for a home furnished to you (including payments for utilities), and
The value of meals and lodging provided to you, your spouse, and your dependents for your employer's convenience.
However, do not include on line 2:
Retirement benefits you received from a church plan after retirement, or
The rental value of a home or an allowance for a home furnished to you (including payments for utilities) after retirement.
If you were a duly ordained minister who was an employee of a church and you must pay SE tax, when figuring SE tax, subtract on line 2 allowable expenses from your self-employment earnings and attach an explanation. Please note that the unreimbursed employee business expenses that you incurred as an employee of the church are not allowable expenses for SE tax purposes, and are allowed only as an itemized deduction for income tax purposes.
If you were a U.S. citizen or resident alien serving outside the United States as a minister or member of a religious order and you must pay SE tax, you cannot reduce your net earnings by the foreign earned income exclusion or the foreign housing exclusion or deduction.
See Pub. 517 for details.
If you have conscientious objections to social security insurance because of your membership in and belief in the teachings of a religious sect recognized as being in existence at all times since December 31, 1950, and which has provided a reasonable level of living for its dependent members, you are exempt from SE tax if you received IRS approval by filing Form 4029. In this case, do not file Schedule SE. Instead, enter “Exempt—Form 4029” on Form 1040, line 56, or Form 1040NR, line 54. See Pub. 517 for details.
You must pay SE tax on income you earned as a U.S. citizen employed by a foreign government (or, in certain cases, by a wholly owned instrumentality of a foreign government or an international organization under the International Organizations Immunities Act) for services performed in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Report income from this employment on either Short or Long Schedule SE, line 2. If you performed services elsewhere as an employee of a foreign government or an international organization, those earnings are exempt from SE tax.
If you are a self-employed U.S. citizen or resident alien living outside the United States, in most cases you must pay SE tax. You cannot reduce your foreign earnings from self-employment by your foreign earned income exclusion.
The United States now has social security agreements with the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Additional agreements are expected in the future.
If you have questions about international social security agreements, you can:
Visit the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) International Programs website at www.socialsecurity.gov/international;
Call the SSA's Office of International Programs at:
(410) 965-3322 for questions on benefits under agreements, or
(410) 965-7306 for questions on the coverage rules of the agreements; or
Write to:
Social Security Administration, Office of International Programs, P.O. Box 17741, Baltimore, MD 21235-7741 USA for information about an agreement, or
Social Security Administration, OIO—Totalization, P.O. Box 17769, Baltimore, MD 21235-7769 USA for information about a claim for benefits.
If your self-employment income is exempt from SE tax, you should get a statement from the appropriate agency of the foreign country verifying that your self-employment income is subject to social security coverage in that country. If the foreign country will not issue the statement, contact the SSA at the address shown in (3a) above. Do not complete Schedule SE. Instead, attach a copy of the statement to Form 1040 and enter “Exempt, see attached statement” on Form 1040, line 56.
If you are a self-employed nonresident alien living in the United States, you must pay SE tax if an international social security agreement in effect determines that you are covered under the U.S. social security system. See Exception under U.S. Citizens or Resident Aliens Living Outside the United States, earlier, for information about international social security agreements. If your self-employment income is subject to SE tax, complete Schedule SE and file it with your Form 1040NR.
While you are a debtor in a chapter 11 bankruptcy case, your net profit or loss from self-employment (for example, from Schedule C or Schedule F) will not be included in your Form 1040 income. Instead, it will be included on the income tax return (Form 1041) of the bankruptcy estate. However, you (not the bankruptcy estate) are responsible for paying SE tax on your net earnings from self-employment.
Enter on the dotted line to the left of Schedule SE, line 3, “Chap. 11 bankruptcy income” and the amount of your net profit or (loss). Combine that amount with the total of lines 1a, 1b, and 2 (if any) and enter the result on line 3.
For other reporting requirements, see Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Cases in the instructions for Form 1040.
If you had two or more businesses, your net earnings from self-employment are the combined net earnings from all of your businesses. If you had a loss in one business, it reduces the income from another. Figure the combined SE tax on one Schedule SE.
Show the name of the spouse with self-employment income on Schedule SE. If both spouses have self-employment income, each must file a separate Schedule SE. However, if one spouse qualifies to use Short Schedule SE (front of form) and the other must use Long Schedule SE (back of form), both can use the same form. One spouse should complete the front and the other the back.
Include the total profits or losses from all businesses on Form 1040. Enter the combined SE tax on Form 1040, line 56.
The following rules only apply to persons married for federal tax purposes. Registered domestic partners and same-sex spouses in California report community income for self-employment tax purposes the same way they do for income tax purposes. For more information, see Pub. 555.
If any of the income from a business (including farming) is community income, then the income and deductions are reported based on the following.
If only one spouse participates in the business, all of the income from that business is the self-employment earnings of the spouse who carried on the business.
If both spouses participate, the income and deductions are allocated to the spouses based on their distributive shares.
If either or both you and your spouse are partners in a partnership, see Partnership Income or Loss, later.
If you and your spouse elected to treat the business as a qualifying joint venture, see Qualified Joint Ventures, later.
If you are the spouse who carried on the business, you must include on Schedule SE, line 3, the net profit or (loss) reported on the other spouse's Schedule C, C-EZ, or F (except in those cases described later under Income and Losses Not Included in Net Earnings From Self-Employment). Enter on the dotted line to the left of Schedule SE, line 3, “Community income taxed to spouse” and the amount of any net profit or (loss) allocated to your spouse as community income. Combine that amount with the total of lines 1a, 1b, and 2 and enter the result on line 3.
If you are not the spouse who carried on the business and you had no other income subject to SE tax, enter “Exempt community income” on Form 1040, line 56, or Form 1040NR, line 54. Do not file Schedule SE. However, if you had $400 or more of other net earnings subject to SE tax, include on Schedule SE, line 1a or 2, the net profit or (loss) from Schedule(s) C, C-EZ, or F allocated to you as community income. Also, enter on the dotted line to the left of Schedule SE, line 3, “Exempt community income” and the allocated amount. If that amount is a net profit, subtract it from the total of lines 1a, 1b, and 2, and enter the result on line 3. If that amount is a loss, treat it as a positive amount, add it to the total of lines 1a, 1b, and 2, and enter the result on line 3.
Community income included on Schedule(s) C, C-EZ, or F must be divided for income tax purposes based on the community property laws of your state. See Pub. 555 for more information.
If you and your spouse materially participate (see Material participation in the 2011 Instructions for Schedule C) as the only members of a jointly owned and operated business, and you file a joint return for the tax year, you can make a joint election to be taxed as a qualified joint venture instead of a partnership.
To make this election, you must divide all items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit attributable to the business between you and your spouse in accordance with your respective interests in the venture. Each of you must file a separate Schedule C, C-EZ, or F. On each line of your separate Schedule C, C-EZ, or F, you must enter your share of the applicable income, deduction, or loss. Each of you also must file a separate Schedule SE to pay SE tax, as applicable.
For more information on qualified joint ventures, go to IRS.gov. Enter “qualified joint venture” in the search box and select “Election for Husband and Wife Unincorporated Businesses.”
If the election is made for a farm rental business that is not included in self-employment, file two Forms 4835, Farm Rental Income and Expenses.
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Read the flowchart on page 1 of Schedule SE to see if you can use Section A—Short Schedule SE, or if you must use Section B—Long Schedule SE. For either section, you will need to know what your net earnings from self-employment are. To find out what is included as net earnings from self-employment, see Net Earnings From Self-Employment.
Enter all negative amounts in parentheses.
If your only income subject to SE tax is church employee income (described earlier under Employees of Churches and Church Organizations), skip lines 1 through 4b. Enter -0- on line 4c and go to line 5a.
Income from services you perform as a minister of a religious order is not church employee income.
If you were receiving social security retirement or social security disability benefits at the time you received your Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payment(s), enter the amount of your taxable CRP payment(s) on line 1b. These payments are included on Schedule F, line 4b, or listed on Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), box 20, code Y.
If line 4 is less than $400 and you have an amount on line 1b, combine lines 1a and 2.
If the total of lines 1a and 2 is $434 or more, file Schedule SE (completed through line 4) with your tax return. Enter -0- on Form 1040, line 56, or Form 1040NR, line 54.
If the total of lines 1a and 2 is less than $434, do not file Schedule SE unless you choose to use an optional method for figuring your SE tax.
If both lines 4a and 4c are less than $400 and you have an amount on line 1b, combine lines 1a and 2.
If the total of lines 1a and 2 is $434 or more, file Schedule SE (completed through line 4c) with your tax return. Enter -0- on Form 1040, line 56,* or Form 1040NR, line 54.*
If the total of lines 1a and 2 is less than $434, do not file Schedule SE unless you choose to use an optional method to figure your SE tax.
*If you also have church employee income (described earlier under Employees of Churches and Church Organizations), also complete lines 5a and 5b. Complete the rest of Schedule SE, as appropriate.
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In most cases, net earnings include your net profit from a farm or nonfarm business.
If you were a general or limited partner in a partnership, include on line 1a or line 2, whichever applies, the amount of net earnings from self-employment from Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), box 14, code A, and Schedule K-1 (Form 1065-B), box 9, code J1. General partners should reduce this amount by certain expenses before entering it on Schedule SE. See your Schedule K-1 instructions. If you reduce the amount you enter on Schedule SE, you must attach an explanation. Limited partners include only guaranteed payments for services actually rendered to or on behalf of the partnership.
If a partner died and the partnership continued, include in self-employment income the deceased's distributive share of the partnership's ordinary income or loss through the end of the month in which he or she died. See section 1402(f).
If you were married and both you and your spouse were partners in a partnership, each of you must report your net earnings from self-employment from the partnership. Each of you must file a separate Schedule SE and report the partnership income or loss on Schedule E (Form 1040), Part II, for income tax purposes. If only one of you was a partner in a partnership, the spouse who was the partner must report his or her net earnings from self-employment from the partnership.
Registered domestic partners and same-sex spouses in California report community income for self-employment tax purposes the same way they do for income tax purposes. For more information, see Pub. 555.
You are considered self-employed if you produced crops or livestock on someone else's land for a share of the crops or livestock produced (or a share of the proceeds from the sale of them). This applies even if you paid another person (an agent) to do the actual work or management for you. Report your net earnings for income tax purposes on Schedule F (Form 1040) and for SE tax purposes on Schedule SE. See Pub. 225 for details.
Rental income from a farm if, as landlord, you materially participated in the production or management of the production of farm products on this land. This income is farm earnings. To determine whether you materially participated in farm management or production, do not consider the activities of any agent who acted for you. The material participation tests for landlords are explained in chapter 12 of Pub. 225.
Cash or a payment-in-kind from the Department of Agriculture for participating in a land diversion program.
Payments for the use of rooms or other space when you also provided substantial services for the convenience of your tenants. Examples are hotel rooms, boarding houses, tourist camps or homes, trailer parks, parking lots, warehouses, and storage garages. See chapter 5 of Pub. 334 for more information.
Income from the retail sale of newspapers and magazines if you were age 18 or older and kept the profits.
Income you receive as a direct seller. Newspaper carriers or distributors of any age are direct sellers if certain conditions apply. See chapter 5 of Pub. 334 for details.
Amounts received by current or former self-employed insurance agents and salespersons that are:
Paid after retirement but figured as a percentage of commissions received from the paying company before retirement,
Renewal commissions, or
Deferred commissions paid after retirement for sales made before retirement.
However, certain termination payments received by former insurance salespersons are not included in net earnings from self-employment (as explained in item 10 under Income and Losses Not Included in Net Earnings From Self-Employment).
Income of certain crew members of fishing vessels with crews of normally fewer than 10 people. See chapter 10 of Pub. 334 for details.
Fees as a state or local government employee if you were paid only on a fee basis and the job was not covered under a federal-state social security coverage agreement.
Interest received in the course of any trade or business, such as interest on notes or accounts receivable.
Fees and other payments received by you for services as a director of a corporation.
Recapture amounts under sections 179 and 280F that you included in gross income because the business use of the property dropped to 50% or less. Do not include amounts you recaptured on the disposition of property. See Form 4797.
Fees you received as a professional fiduciary. This may also apply to fees paid to you as a nonprofessional fiduciary if the fees relate to active participation in the operation of the estate's business, or the management of an estate that required extensive management activities over a long period of time.
Gain or loss from section 1256 contracts or related property by an options or commodities dealer in the normal course of dealing in or trading section 1256 contracts.
Salaries, fees, etc., subject to social security or Medicare tax that you received for performing services as an employee, including services performed as an employee under the railroad retirement system. This includes services performed as a public official (except as a fee basis government employee as explained in item 8 under Other Income and Losses Included in Net Earnings From Self-Employment, earlier.
Fees received for services performed as a notary public. If you had no other income subject to SE tax, enter “Exempt—Notary” on Form 1040, line 56. Do not file Schedule SE. However, if you had other net earnings of $400 or more subject to SE tax, enter “Exempt—Notary” and the amount of your net profit as a notary public from Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ on the dotted line to the left of Schedule SE, line 3. Subtract that amount from the total of lines 1a, 1b, and 2, and enter the result on line 3.
Income you received as a retired partner under a written partnership plan that provides for lifelong periodic retirement payments if you had no other interest in the partnership and did not perform services for it during the year.
Income from real estate rentals if you did not receive the income in the course of a trade or business as a real estate dealer. Report this income on Schedule E.
Income from farm rentals (including rentals paid in crop shares) if, as landlord, you did not materially participate in the production or management of the production of farm products on the land. See chapter 12 of Pub. 225 for details. Report this income on Form 4835. Use two Forms 4835 if you and your spouse made an election to be taxed as a qualified joint venture.
Payments you receive from the Conservation Reserve Program if you are receiving social security benefits for retirement or disability. Deduct these payments on line 1b of Schedule SE.
Dividends on shares of stock and interest on bonds, notes, etc., if you did not receive the income in the course of your trade or business as a dealer in stocks or securities.
Gain or loss from:
The sale or exchange of a capital asset;
The sale, exchange, involuntary conversion, or other disposition of property unless the property is stock in trade or other property that would be includible in inventory, or held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of the business; or
Certain transactions in timber, coal, or domestic iron ore.
Net operating losses from other years.
Termination payments you received as a former insurance salesperson if all of the following conditions are met.
The payment was received from an insurance company because of services you performed as an insurance salesperson for the company.
The payment was received after termination of your agreement to perform services for the company.
You did not perform any services for the company after termination and before the end of the year in which you received the payment.
You entered into a covenant not to compete against the company for at least a 1-year period beginning on the date of termination.
The amount of the payment depended primarily on policies sold by or credited to your account during the last year of the agreement, or the extent to which those policies remain in force for some period after termination, or both.
The amount of the payment did not depend to any extent on length of service or overall earnings from services performed for the company (regardless of whether eligibility for the payment depended on length of service).
If you were a statutory employee, do not include the net profit or (loss) from Schedule C, line 31 (or the net profit from Schedule C-EZ, line 3), on Short or Long Schedule SE, line 2. But if you file Long Schedule SE, be sure to include statutory employee social security wages and tips from Form W-2 on line 8a.
Using the optional methods may give you the benefits described above, but they may also increase your SE tax.
You can change the method after you file your return. That is, you can change from the regular to the optional method or from the optional to the regular method. To do this, file Form 1040X.
You may use this method to figure your net earnings from farm self-employment if your gross farm income was $6,720 or less or your net farm profits were less than $4,851. Net farm profits are:
The total of the amounts from Schedule F (Form 1040), line 34, and Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), box 14, code A, minus
The amount you would have entered on Schedule SE, line 1b, had you not used the optional method.
There is no limit on how many years you can use this method.
Under this method, report in Part II, line 15, two-thirds of your gross farm income, up to $4,480, as your net earnings. This method can increase or decrease your net earnings from farm self-employment even if the farming business had a loss.
For a farm partnership, figure your share of gross income based on the partnership agreement. With guaranteed payments, your share of the partnership's gross income is your guaranteed payments plus your share of the gross income after it is reduced by all guaranteed payments made by the partnership. If you were a limited partner, include only guaranteed payments for services you actually rendered to or on behalf of the partnership.
You may be able to use this method to figure your net earnings from nonfarm self-employment if your net nonfarm profits were less than $4,851 and also less than 72.189% of your gross nonfarm income. Net nonfarm profits are the total of the amounts from:
Schedule C (Form 1040), line 31,
Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040), line 3,
Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), box 14, code A (from other than farm partnerships), and
Schedule K-1 (Form 1065-B),
box 9, code J1.
To use this method, you also must be regularly self-employed. You meet this requirement if your actual net earnings from self-employment were $400 or more in 2 of the 3 years preceding the year you use the nonfarm optional method. The net earnings of $400 or more could be from either farm or nonfarm earnings or both. The net earnings include your distributive share of partnership income or loss subject to SE tax.
Use of the nonfarm optional method from nonfarm self-employment is limited to 5 years. The 5 years do not have to be consecutive.
Under this method, report in Part II, line 17, two-thirds of your gross nonfarm income, up to the amount on line 16, as your net earnings. But you cannot report less than your actual net earnings from nonfarm self-employment.
Figure your share of gross income from a nonfarm partnership in the same manner as a farm partnership. See Farm Optional Method for details.
If you can use both methods, you can report less than your total actual net earnings from farm and nonfarm self-employment, but you cannot report less than your actual net earnings from nonfarm self-employment alone.
If you use both methods to figure net earnings, you cannot report more than $4,480 of net earnings from self-employment.