Schedule SE - Notary Public Exempt
1

Per IRS Instructions for Schedule SE Self-Employment Tax, on page SE-5:

Income and Losses Not Included in Net Earnings From Self-Employment

2. Fees received for services performed as a notary public. If you had no other income subject to SE tax, enter “Exempt—Notary” on Schedule 2 (Form 1040), line 4. Don’t file Schedule SE. However, if you had other 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 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.

To enter or edit your notary income or expenses on Schedule C (Form 1040) Profit or Loss From Business in TaxAct:

  1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
  2. Click Business Income in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Business income or loss from a sole proprietorship.
  3. Click + Add Schedule C to create a new copy of the form or click Edit to review a form already created.
  4. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.

After you enter the income, enter an adjustment on Schedule SE (Form 1040) Self-Employment Tax since notary public income is not subject to self-employment tax.

To enter exempt notary income on Schedule SE (this amount will transfer to Schedule SE, Part I, Line 3, which will affect the amount of self-employment tax on Schedule 2 (Form 1040) Additional Taxes, Line 4:

  1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
  2. Click Taxes in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Self-employment tax adjustments.
  3. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.
  4. On the screen titled Self-Employment Tax - Adjustments, enter the Fees received as a notary public amounts, then click Continue.

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the document at the time it is accessed.