"would file an extension and wait for IRS guidance (that may never come)." What is missing? The 1099-G grants reported by State, County, City, Health Dept or public agencies, to businesses, are taxable business income; yes, it is subject to SE; yes, the IRS states their position in that link. Unless this is explicitly exempt, it is treated as regular business income. Some issuers have it as exempt for State reporting purposes, because that's up to them for how they allocated the funds accordingly. I have been following these from the beginning: "This financial assistance was funded through $1.25 billion in federal emergency relief funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The receipt of a government grant by a business generally is not excluded from the business's gross income under the [IRS] Code and therefore is taxable. More information is available here." And here is "here:" "Q. If governments use Fund payments as described in the Fund Guidance to establish a grant program to support businesses, would those funds be considered gross income taxable to a business receiving the grant under the Internal Revenue Code (Code)? A. Yes. The receipt of a government grant by a business generally is not excluded from the business's gross income under the Code and therefore is taxable. However, a grant made by the government of a federally recognized Indian tribe to a member to expand an Indian-owned business on or near reservations is excluded from the member's gross income under the general welfare exclusion." As I already mentioned, some are excluded because they are Specifically stated for Exemption, such as SVOG (shuttered venue) which has not even begun to be administered (SBA), as also has been announced on public radio: "23.*Will an SVOG recipient have to report the grant to the IRS as taxable income?No. The Economic Aid Act specifies that SVOGs “shall not be included in the gross income of the person that receives such grant." This grant application process starts next week. None of these funds were distributed in 2020.