It depends on how you are paid
Off-duty, extra-duty and detail pay reaches officers in two main ways. Which one applies to a job is set by the arrangement between you, your department and the business, and by the IRS rules on employees and independent contractors. You do not get to pick the form.
Paid as wages: Form W-2
When your department runs the job through payroll, or another employer hires you as an employee, the pay is wages. Income tax, Social Security and Medicare are withheld, and the amounts appear on a Form W-2 from that employer after the year ends. Department overtime, call back and court time are wages on your regular W-2.
Paid as a contractor: Form 1099-NEC
When a business or a coordinator pays you directly as a contractor, nothing is withheld. The payer reports the total on Form 1099-NEC if it paid you at or above the reporting threshold for the year. Under the IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC, that threshold is $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025. It was $600 for earlier years, and the IRS says it may be adjusted for inflation from 2027.
Income is taxable with or without a form
The threshold is a rule about what the payer must file. It is not a rule about what counts as income. If a payer paid you less than $2,000 in 2026 and sends no 1099, that pay is still taxable income to report. The IRS self-employed individuals tax center explains how self-employment income is reported. This is why your own log of every job matters more now that fewer forms will be sent.
Self-employment tax on 1099 income
Contractor income carries self-employment tax, which is how Social Security and Medicare are paid when no employer withholds them. The IRS self-employment tax page gives the rate as 15.3 percent: 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare. It applies when net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more for the year, and it is in addition to income tax.
Quarterly estimated payments
Because nothing is withheld from contractor pay, the IRS collects during the year through estimated tax payments. For tax year 2026, Form 1040-ES lists four due dates:
| Payment | Due |
|---|---|
| 1st | April 15, 2026 |
| 2nd | June 15, 2026 |
| 3rd | September 15, 2026 |
| 4th | January 15, 2027 |
Whether you need to make estimated payments, and how much, depends on your whole tax picture, including the withholding on your regular paycheck. A tax professional can work that out with you.
How Centurion Blue keeps this straight
Every job you log has a type: 1099, Check Only (Non 1099), Direct Employer, or one of the department types. That keeps contractor income apart from wages all year. The W-2 Tracker at the bottom of the Log tab groups your jobs by employer, shows the form to expect from each, and lets you mark a form received when it arrives. The Tax Center lists the status of each form.
When a 1099 payer has paid you less than $2,000 in the year ($600 before 2026), the app shows No 1099 expected next to it, with a note that the income is still taxable and that your log is the record of it.
The Tax Center also shows an estimate of what to set aside from off-duty income, and the phone apps can alert you before the quarterly dates. Year End Tax Reports downloads a tax summary PDF with your income by type, a quarterly breakdown and your mileage total for your tax preparer. These are estimates and records. The app does not file anything.
This page is general information and record keeping, not tax or legal advice. Rules vary with your situation. Ask a tax professional what applies to you.