I worked for a local jurisdiction in 2025 as a poll worker. IRS "About Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement" says
Every employer engaged in a trade or business who pays remuneration, including noncash payments of $600 or more for the year (all amounts if any income, social security, or Medicare tax was withheld) for services performed by an employee must file a Form W-2 for each employee (even if the employee is related to the employer) from whom:
- Income, Social Security, or Medicare tax was withheld.
- Income tax would have been withheld if the employee had claimed no more than one withholding allowance or had not claimed exemption from withholding on Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate.
I was an employee, not a contractor. My wages were $300. Nothing was withheld: the payroll check was (the hourly rate) x (number of hours). The jurisdiction has a policy of not sending a W-2 if the amount paid to an employee is under $600, and I got no W-2. The jurisdiction has been around long enough, and is big enough and wealthy enough, that I'm pretty confident that they know what they're doing.
If it matters or helps: I've been paying estimated taxes and I'm pretty sure that I've really overpaid there because reasons. I contributed much more than that to an HSA, and I could contribute the $300 to a traditional IRA for tax year 2025. (This was my only earned income, and I'm retired and have no retirement plan.)
How do I report my wages when I don't have a W-2?
If you know further: how do I do it in FreeTaxUSA? In the Uncommon Income / Other Income section, there's a checkbox for "Wages not on a W-2 (Form 8919)", but that form says "if you were an employee but were treated as an independent contractor by your employer", which I don't know is applicable.
[US Federal] How do I report wages for which no W-2 was required or given, especially in FreeTaxUSA?
byu/scarlet_sage intax
Posted by scarlet_sage
2 Comments
You can report this as Other income, kind of like jury duty pay. There should be an option to enter Other income with a description; you can enter Election worker wages and the total amount.
It sounds like you were under the threshold to have any FICA taxes withheld so it just needs to be added to your income on the Form 1040.
https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/election-workers-reporting-and-withholding
poll worker pay is actually wages, not self employment income. so you don’t need a schedule c or anything like that. just report it on your 1040 line 1h as other earned income.
also good news, if you earned under $2,200 as a poll worker your pay is exempt from FICA taxes entirely. so no social security or medicare withholding on it.
no w-2 required from your county if it’s under the threshold but you still report the income. just keep whatever payment records they gave you in case the irs ever asks.