! curity benefits. Obtaining an ITIN

CAUTION doesn’t change your immigration or

employment status under U.S. law.

Obtaining an SSN. If you have never had an SSN, apply for one using Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card. The application is also available in Spanish. You can get this form at any SSA office or by calling 800-772-1213, or by going to SSA.gov/Forms . If you have an SSN from the time you were an employee, you must use that number. Don’t apply for a new one.

Replacing a lost social security card. If you have a number but lost your card, file Form SS-5. You will get a new card showing your original number, not a new number. In some areas, you may be able to request a replacement card online.

Name change. If your name has changed since you received your social security card, complete Form SS-5 to report a name change.

You can find more information about

TIP obtaining an SSN, replacing a lost

card, or requesting a name change at SSA.gov.

Obtaining an ITIN. The IRS will issue you an ITIN, for tax use only, if you are a nonresident or resident alien and you don’t have, and aren’t eligible to get, an SSN. To apply for an ITIN, file

78 Chapter 12 Self-Employment Tax Publication 225 (2025)

on for a livelihood or in good faith to make a profit.

Share farmer. You are a self-employed farmer under an income-sharing arrangement if both the following apply.

You produce a crop or raise livestock on land belonging to another person.
Your share of the crop or livestock, or the proceeds from their sale, depends on the amount produced.

Your net farm profit or loss from the income-sharing arrangement is reported on Schedule F (Form 1040) and included in your self-employment earnings.

If you produce a crop or livestock on land belonging to another person and are to receive a specified rate of pay, a fixed sum of money, or a fixed quantity of the crop or livestock, and not a share of the crop or livestock or their proceeds, you may be either self-employed or an employee of the landowner. This will depend on whether the landowner has the right to direct or control your performance of services.

Example. A share farmer produces a crop on land owned by another person on a 50-50 crop-share basis. Under the terms of their agreement, the share farmer furnishes the labor and half the cost of seed and fertilizer. The landowner furnishes the machinery and equipment used to produce and harvest the crop, and half the cost of seed and fertilizer. The share farmer is provided a house in which to live. The landowner and the share farmer decide on a cropping plan.

The share farmer is a self-employed farmer for purposes of the agreement to produce the crops, and the share farmer’s part of the profit or loss from the crops is reported on Schedule F (Form 1040) and included in self-employment earnings.

The tax treatment of the landowner is discussed later under Landlord Participation in Farming .

Contract farming. Under typical contract farming arrangements, the grower receives a fixed payment per acre, per unit of crops or per head. Because the grower typically furnishes labor and assumes some production risk, the payments are reported on Schedule F (Form 1040) and are therefore subject to SE tax.

4-H Club or FFA project. If an individual participates in a 4-H Club or National FFA Organization (FFA) project, any net income received from sales or prizes related to the project may be subject to income tax. Report the net income as “Other income” on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z. If necessary, attach a statement showing the gross income and expenses. The net income may not be subject to SE tax if the project is primarily for educational purposes and not for profit, and is completed by the individual under the rules and economic restrictions of the sponsoring 4-H or FFA organization. Such a project is generally not considered a trade or business. For information on the filing requirements and other tax information for dependents, see Pub. 501.

Partners in a partnership. Generally, you are self-employed if you are a partner of a partnership that carries on a trade or business.

Limited partner. If you are a limited partner, your partnership income is generally not subject to SE tax. However, guaranteed payments you receive for services you perform for the partnership are subject to SE tax and should be reported to you in box 14 of your Schedule K-1 (Form 1065). Whether a partner qualifies as a limited partner for purposes of self-employment tax depends on whether the partner is considered a limited partner under section 1402(a)(13).

Community property. If you are a partner and your distributive share of any income or loss from a trade or business carried on by the partnership is community property, treat your share as your self-employment earnings. Don’t treat any of your share as self-employment earnings of your spouse.

Business owned and operated by spouses. If you and your spouse jointly own and operate a farm as an unincorporated business and share in the profits and losses, you are partners in a partnership whether or not you have a formal partnership agreement. You must file Form 1065 instead of Schedule F (Form 1040). However, you and your spouse may still report income using Schedule F (Form 1040) instead of Form 1065 if either of the following applies.

You and your spouse elect to be treated as a qualified joint venture. See Qualified joint venture (QJV) , later.
You and your spouse wholly own the unin- corporated farming business as community property and you treat the business as a sole proprietorship. See Community in- come , later.

If your spouse is your employee, not