#side-hustle
Tax, accounting, and growth tips for side projects, freelancers, and part-time businesses
Flipping furniture is a Schedule C business, not a hobby: deduct per-piece COGS and 2026's split IRS mileage rate; expect no 1099-K under $20,000/200 sales.
Bars must clean draught lines every 14 days — price the route per tap, log every visit, and track chemical cost per line.
Pool rental income is taxable even without a 1099-K, and your US homeowners policy likely excludes paying guests — check IRS rules, coverage, and permits first.
DC's 2026 Short-Term Rental Act would let renters host on Airbnb, but it isn't law yet. Budget a $99 license, $250K insurance, Schedule C and DC's D-30 tax.
Turo hosting is Schedule C self-employment income, not Schedule E rent — 15.3% SE tax, a gross 1099-K, and an IRS mileage rate that changed midyear 2026.
On a $25,000 domain sale, investor treatment costs roughly $3,750 while dealer treatment can exceed $9,000 — how Section 1221, the nine-factor hobby test, and per-name basis records decide which you are.
Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 10 of 2026 requires every social-media seller to register with MOCI, issue Arabic e-invoices, honor a 14-day return window, and keep influencer records five years — penalties reach KD 10,000 or a year in prison.
A teen owes a tax return at just $400 of net self-employment income — no age minimum. How the 15.3% SE tax, the $1,000 estimated-tax tripwire, the $20,000 1099-K threshold, and a custodial Roth IRA fit together.
Kick pays streamers 95% of subscriptions and KICKs through Stripe, and the OBBBA raised the 1099-NEC reporting threshold from $600 to $2,000 for payments made on or after January 1, 2026 — but streaming income is taxable from dollar one, and $400 of net profit triggers self-employment tax whether or not a form arrives.
Bug bounty payouts from HackerOne and Bugcrowd are ordinary income from the first dollar, and for 2026 platforms only issue 1099s at $2,000 per researcher — but the income is taxable with or without a form. Covers W-9 setup, the hobby-versus-business test that decides whether tooling is deductible, self-employment tax, and quarterly estimates.
AI data-labeling and RLHF gig income arrives with nothing withheld, so annotators owe 15.3 percent self-employment tax plus income tax on every payout and must pay quarterly estimates by the 2026 deadlines. This guide covers the 1099-NEC and 1099-K thresholds, the 90/100/110 percent safe-harbor rules, Schedule C deductions most annotators skip, and a 20-minute-a-month bookkeeping system for multi-platform payouts.
Sports officials report game fees on Schedule C, owe self-employment tax once net earnings reach $400, and receive a 1099-NEC only above the new $2,000 threshold for 2026 — with 2026 mileage logs split at June 30 between the 72.5-cent and 76-cent rates.
