Taxes

You are an independent contractor

When you complete tasks through the Sensei app, you do so as an independent contractor, not as an employee. This affects how your payments are reported and how you file your own taxes.

Form 1099-NEC if you earn more than $2,000

If you earn more than $2,000 from Sensei Robotics during a calendar year, we will issue you a Form 1099-NEC reporting the total amount we paid you. You will receive a copy, and a copy is also filed with the IRS.

If you earn $2,000 or less in a calendar year, we will not issue you a Form 1099-NEC. This does not mean the income is untaxed — see “Reporting your own income” below.

Form W-9 if you earn more than $2,000

To issue a Form 1099-NEC, we need your legal name, address, and taxpayer identification number. If you earn more than $2,000 in a calendar year, we will require you to submit a completed Form W-9.

If we do not have a valid Form W-9 on file, we may be required to withhold a portion of your payments and send it to the IRS, or to pause further payments until we receive one. Submitting your W-9 promptly avoids both.

All pay is gross — nothing is withheld

All payments from Sensei Robotics are gross amounts. We do not withhold income tax, Social Security, Medicare, or any other taxes from your payments. The full amount you see is the full amount you receive, and no portion of it has been set aside for taxes on your behalf.

Reporting your own income

You are responsible for reporting the income you earn from Sensei Robotics on your own tax return, and for paying any tax you owe on it. This applies to all payments you receive, whether or not we issue you a Form 1099-NEC.

In particular, if you have $400 or more in net self-employment earnings for the year, you are generally required to file Schedule SE with your tax return and pay self-employment tax. The $400 threshold is separate from, and much lower than, the $2,000 threshold that determines whether we send you a Form 1099-NEC.

You may also owe income tax on these earnings, and you may need to make estimated tax payments during the year rather than paying everything at once when you file. A tax professional can tell you whether that applies to you.

Contractors outside the United States

If you are not a U.S. taxpayer, we will not issue you a Form 1099-NEC. We may instead require a Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, and you remain responsible for reporting your income under the rules that apply where you live.

Keeping your information current

Please keep your legal name, address, and taxpayer identification number up to date so that any tax documents we issue reach you and are accurate. You can request a summary of your total payments for a given year at any time by contacting support.