The Notary's 1099 Tax Guide

Your notary fees are exempt from self-employment tax. Almost no notary claims it.

Not deferred. Not reduced. Exempt. The 15.3% that every other self-employed person in America pays does not apply to the fees you earn for performing official notarial acts, and it has been that way for decades. A notary with $8,000 in notarial fees who files the way tax software defaults to filing pays about $1,130 in tax they never owed. But only the notarial acts qualify - the $125 a mobile appointment pays you is almost never $125 of notarial fees.

What you'll learn

• The exact notation that claims the exemption — where it goes on Schedule 2 or Schedule SE, word for word, because your software will not prompt you for it
• How to split an appointment fee — acts multiplied by your state's maximum, done when you quote the job rather than in April
• Why your journal is your best tax evidence — a contemporaneous, signed, sequential record of exactly the acts in question, already required by your state
• Every deduction a notary can claim — commission, bond, stamp, printer, toner, home office, listings, shipping
• Mileage, usually your largest deduction — and why a qualifying home office changes which miles count
• Quarterly taxes on income nobody withheld from — and why a notary sets aside less than other self-employed people
• How to recover it from past years — the amendment window, and what evidence it needs

New for 2026

• The exemption, with the arithmetic — about 14 cents back on every exempt dollar
• Mileage — 72.5 cents January to June, 76 cents from July 1 - split your log at June 30
• 1099-NEC threshold now $2,000 — up from $600, so more of your income arrives with no form
• The cost nobody mentions — exempt income earns no Social Security credits, and what to do about it
• RON is now authorised in 49 states and DC — and it changes your exempt proportion, not just your schedule

Who this guide is for

• Mobile notaries
• Remote online notaries
• Notaries who have been filing for years and never heard of the exemption

Why this one is different

It will not tell you that everything you earn is tax-free - you will find that claim online, and following it gets you a letter. It shows you exactly which dollars are exempt, how to document the split so it holds up, and precisely what to write on the form.

Use it as an educational companion throughout the year, then bring your organized records and specific questions to a qualified tax professional when your situation calls for personalized advice.

Read on this subject

Free articles on the questions this guide covers, each one checked against IRS sources.

• If you missed the notary exemption, you can usually still go back three years The refund window is 3 years from filing or 2 from paying, whichever is later.
• The notary exemption covers your notarial acts — not your whole fee Notarial acts escape self-employment tax. Printing, travel and courier work in the same appointment do not.