I'm a full-time college student with two sources of income in 2018: a part-time job through my college for which I have a W2 (gross wage of $5,408.65) and a paid internship over the summer for which I have a 1099-MISC (gross wage of $3,000).
The W2 job was easy enough to enter into TurboTax and I got a nice return, but I'm not sure how to approach the 1099-MISC, and whether I'm actually required to file that at all.
TurboTax made it seem like I had to upgrade to their premium service and file as self-employed, but I'm not really self-employed, and it's costing me several hundred dollars in taxes which is an enormous amount of money for a college student.
According to Table 1. 2018 Filing Requirements Chart for Most Taxpayers on the IRS website, if I'm single and under 65, I only need to file a return if my gross income was at least $12,000.
Am I interpreting this correctly? Is it possible for me to file a return on my W2 job so I get money back but omit the income from the 1099-MISC since it's under the threshold? If I do have to file the income for this paid internship, what's the best way to do so? Does a paid internship really make me self-employed?