Schedule C: Reporting Self-Employment Income from Multiple Sources

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Updated for tax year 2024.

If you’re self-employed and have many different business activities or side hustles, it can be confusing to know how to report them all on your taxes. There are certain rules you need to follow, like grouping similar activities together and keeping different ones separate. Let’s take a closer look at how to report your business activities so you can avoid problems with the IRS and make things easier for yourself this tax season.

At a glance:

  • You can group similar business activities on one Schedule C, but make sure to keep unrelated activities separate.
  • Spouses running separate businesses can’t combine them on one Schedule C.
  • You can’t group activities together to hide losses, but losses from one activity can still offset gains from another.
  • Report all self-employment income, regardless of the amount, for tax purposes.

How to decide if you have one or more Schedule C business

Many self-employed individuals often have more than one business activity going at once. To make things a little easier when record-keeping and filing your self-employed taxes, you can report closely related activities together on one Schedule C form. However, if you make income from two or more unrelated activities, you must report them all on separate Schedule Cs.

For example, let’s say you are a self-employed dog groomer, but you also offer pet-sitting services occasionally on the side. These two activities are similar enough that you could simply consider yourself a pet care business and group them together on one Schedule C.

Example of unrelated activities (separate Schedule Cs)

As another example, let’s say you earn income selling handmade items online, and you also drive for Uber® or Lyft® on the weekends. These are two distinctly different types of business activities, meaning you’d need to fill out separate Schedule C forms for each income source.

Tax Tip: Businesses run separately by two spouses are considered unrelated activities. If you are actively participating in one business but not in another, you cannot combine them on one Schedule C.

FAQs for reporting self-employment income from multiple sources

The bottom line

As a self-employed taxpayer, it’s important to know how to report your business activities for tax purposes. Although it may seem complicated, you can simplify the process by grouping similar activities together on one Schedule C form. However, you’ll want to keep unrelated activities separate and keep separate records for each activity to determine what tax deductions you can take.

Ready to file your Schedule C income? TaxAct® Self-Employed can help you report your self-employment income and corresponding tax deductions accurately and confidently.

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This article is for informational purposes only and not legal or financial advice.
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