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2024 Tax Filing Tips

  1. Report UN taxable earnings (the total amount from Statement of Taxable Earnings - STE) on Line 1a, page 1 of IRS Form 1040 as W-2 income.
  2. Calculate Social Security & Medicare Tax commonly known as Self Employment tax or SE Tax on IRS Form Schedule SE. SE Tax is applicable only to US Citizens on their UN Income earned while working in the US. UN income earned overseas by a US citizen or UN income earned by a US permanent resident (anywhere) is not subject to SE tax. (See How to report compensation)
  3. Utilize the SE Calculator on the UN Tax website to calculate your part of the SE Tax for tax year 2025. (See Self-Employment Calculator)
  4. UN earnings are wages not business income; as such, they do not qualify for the Qualified business income deduction. (Line 13 of IRS Form 1040)
  5. UN earnings are Wages not self-employed income It is strongly recommended to avoid the use of Schedule C to report UN earnings. If, however, Schedule C is used, no deductions for expenses, etc. are allowed.
  6. Do not make any alterations to IRS Form 4506-C or change the preprinted date of 06/16/2025. Use current date if submitting the form after 06/16/2025. Remember to enter your UN index Number on Line 5b. Form 4506-C requires manual signature. E-signatures are not accepted. Use of E-signatures will cause a rejection of the tax claim.
  7. Clearly indicate if you have paid balance due on your tax return. Include proof of payment with the tax claim to avoid duplicate payments to tax authorities and reissuing reimbursement payments. Proof of payment means cashed check image (front and back of the check), bank statement showing the paid amount, credit card statement showing the paid amount or the IRS account transcript showing receipt of the payment by the IRS.
  8. E-Signatures are acceptable for all UN forms and must be scripted signatures (No printed names). Signatures should be placed on the signature lines of the actual tax returns, NOT on the e-filing authorization pages (e.g. page 2 of IRS Form 1040, page 4 of NYS Form IT-201).
  9. UN advances/estimates are not withholdings and therefore should be shown on Line 26, page 2 of IRS Form 1040, NOT on Line 25d of IRS Form 1040.
  10. The amounts of UN overpayment for both Federal and NYS taxes shown on the UN Statement of Settlement should be applied to the following year’s estimated taxes.
  11. Staff members who are separated or separating from the Organization should request a refund of any UN Advances/ estimated tax overpayment. All refunds related to UN overpayment can be paid back to the Organization via bank transfer (preferred method) or as a check made payable to the Organization.
  12. It is strongly suggested that the Estimated tax penalty on Line 38 of IRS Form 1040 should not be calculated. Instead, suppress the IRS Form 2210 and have the tax authorities calculate the penalty and send penalty notice.
  13. Please note that all NYS settlement payments will be issued as checks, regardless of whether EFTPS enrollment is active. To avoid receiving a NYS check for the tax settlement, you may pay the NYS tax balance due and provide proof of payment with your tax claim submission. This will allow your NYS settlement reimbursement payment to be made payable to your name.
  14. For compliance purposes, unmask the SSNs on the tax returns to avoid rejection and delays.