Gig workers reported less profit when 1099 forms disappeared, study finds

Gig workers reported about 17 cents less in self-employment profit for every dollar of platform payments that disappeared from third-party tax reports, according to a study published in the August 2026 issue of the Journal of Public Economics. The researchers estimate that a reporting gap affecting roughly 770,000 workers left $560 million in profit unreported on 2017 and 2018 income tax returns.