Understanding the 1099 form: Types, who receives one, and how to file

What are 1099s? The 1099 tax form is a common IRS form covering several potentially taxable income situations. Depending on what’s happened in your financial life during the year, you could get one or more 1099 tax form “types” or even more than one of the same 1099 forms.

We’re here to review tax information and frequently asked questions about the form, why you may receive it, what the form reports for each situation, and 1099 reporting best practices.

What is a 1099 form?

There are so many tax forms out there, so you may be wondering what a Form 1099 is, or why there are different kinds. Here’s the simple answer: different 1099 forms report various types of income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The income reported on an IRS 1099 is different from the income on your Form W-2.

(Independent contract workers, check out our Guide to gig worker taxes and avoid tax-time surprises.)

Who gets a 1099 tax form?

It can get a little confusing to talk about the 1099 form generically. And here’s why: as we’ve hinted to above, there’s a series of 1099 forms that apply to multiple types of income, ranging from investment income to self-employment. So, if you’re trying to figure out who receives a 1099 form, the answer is, a lot of people—and for a lot of reasons. 

The types of 1099s you may encounter during the tax season are:

• Form 1099-B, Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions
• Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions
• From 1099-INT, Interest Income
• Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.
• Form 1099-Q, Payments from Qualified Educational Programs
• Form 1099-S, Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions
• Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information
• Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation
• Form 1099-K, Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions
• Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments
• Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt

What is a 1099 form used for?

Notice a pattern above? The first group of 1099 forms involve investment income, while the second group covers income derived from non-investment income such as rents, royalties, and nonemployee work.

There are a few nuances to note, so we’ve categorized them into two sections to outline what 1099s are used for:

• 1099 forms for investment income
• 1099 forms for non-investment income

Tax forms 1099 for investment income

You may or may not receive a 1099 form for a specific tax year. Your investment company or financial institution will review your account activity for the year to see if you should receive a form. If you don’t have a certain type of income activity in that year, you won’t get that 1099 type.

For example, if your financial account didn’t earn any interest last year, you won’t receive a 1099-INT this year. (We cover 1099-INT below).

Form 1099-B

Form 1099-B shows proceeds from securities transactions. Use the information on Form 1099-B to fill out IRS Form 8949. If you have an account at a brokerage or mutual fund company, the Form 1099-B you received could report a single or multiple transactions.

You need this information when preparing your tax return:

• Box 1a: Description—This is a brief description of the asset sold. Enter this amount on your Form 8949.
• Box 1b: Date acquired—This is the date you acquired the asset.
• Box 1c: Date of sale or exchange—This is the transaction’s date. Use it as the sales date on your Form 8949.
• Box 1d: Proceeds—This is the amount of money you receive on the sale of your securities. Report it as the sales price on your Form 8949. The brokerage firm or mutual fund company usually reduces this amount by commissions.
• Box 1e: Cost or other basis—Usually, financial firms also provide information about the cost basis of the asset sold. You can use this information on Form 8949. Brokers and mutual fund companies must report the basis of the shares bought and sold on Form 1099-B
• Box 2: Form 1099-B must classify the resulting gain or loss as either short or long-term.

Form 1099-DIV

1099-DIV reports income from stocks and mutual funds from dividends or capital gain distributions. You need this information when preparing your tax return:

• Box 1a: Ordinary dividends—Enter this amount on Form 1040 or on Schedule B (if required). The amount shown is taxable at ordinary income rates.
• Box 1b: Qualified dividends—This amount shows the portion of the dividends in Box 1a that are taxed at a lower rate. Box 1a amounts aren’t always taxed as ordinary income rates.
• Box 2a: Total capital gain distributions—Enter this amount on Form 1040 or Schedule D (if required). Gains might be eligible for a lower tax rate.
• Box 7: Foreign tax paid—This amount shows taxes you may be able to claim as a foreign tax credit or itemized deduction on your Form 1040, Schedule A. The qualifying amount of taxes paid for the credit or deduction can be part or all of this amount. Special rules apply to both the deduction and the credit, check with a tax pro if you are unsure of the best option.

Form 1099-INT

Form 1099-INT reports interest income received. When preparing your income tax return, the following 1099-INT information is helpful:

• Box 1: Interest income—Enter this amount on Form 1040 or on Schedule B (if required). It’s taxable as ordinary income.
• Box 2: Early withdrawal penalty—The penalty shown in Box 3 is applied when you withdraw a time savings, like a CD, early. Enter this amount as an adjustment to income on Form 1040, Schedule 1, line 18.
• Box 3: Interest on U.S. Savings Bonds and Treasury obligations—Report this interest on Form 1040 or Schedule B (if required). It’s usually taxable on your federal return. It’s usually not taxable for local taxes and for state tax on your state return.

Form 1099-R

Form 1099-R reports distributions from pensions, annuities, retirement or profit-sharing plans, IRAs, and insurance contracts.

You may also receive Forms SSA-1099, RRB-1099, or RRB-1099-R from the Social Security Administration or Railroad Retirement Board to report the benefits you received during the year.

• Social Security benefits (and equivalent railroad retirement benefits) are reported on Form 1040, lines 6A and 6B.
• Railroad retirement benefits that are pension benefits are generally reported on Form 1040, lines 5A and 5B.

Form 1099-Q

Form 1099-Q reports how much money is taken out from a qualified tuition program (QTP), like a 529 plan. In addition to your distribution amount, the 1099-Q shows how much money was withdrawn from the account; you’ll need to determine what to report on your tax return. You’ll need to know if the money was used for qualified education expenses, like tuition and books, which might mean you don’t have to pay taxes on it.

• Box 1: Shows the total amount of money taken out from the education savings account during the year.
• Box 2: Shows the earnings part of the total withdrawal. This is the part that might be taxable if not used for education.
• Box 3: Shows the original amount of money you put in (contributions) that was taken out.
• Box 4: Tells if the amount in Box 1 is from a trustee-to-trustee transfer, which means money was moved from one education savings account to another.
• Box 5: Tells if the distribution is from a QTP established by a private eligible educational institution or from a QTP established by a state.
• Box 6: Tells if the recipient is the designated beneficiary (the student) or someone else.

Learn more about the taxation of college savings plans.

Form 1099-S

Form 1099-S shows proceeds from real estate transactions. If you receive Form 1099-S for the sale of your main home, and you don’t qualify to exclude some or all of the gain, you’ll report the sale transaction on Form 8849 and Schedule D. If you receive Form 1099-S for the sale of business or rental real estate, there are several additional considerations when determining whether you have taxable income from the sale.

1099 tax forms for non-investment income

These next types of 1099 forms may require you to report the income on Schedule C, which is typically subject to self-employment tax, or on Schedule E.

Form 1099-MISC

Form 1099-MISC tax form reports many types of income. The main kinds of income—like rents or royalties—usually require you to file additional forms on your return. Include this tax information when preparing your return:

• Box 1: Rents—Report real-estate rental income you receive on Schedule E. Report rent for personal property, like machinery, on Schedule C.
• Box 2: Royalties—Income you receive for:
  • The right to your work over a specified period of time, and
  • Extracting natural resources from your property.

Form 1099-NEC

You’ll receive a 1099-NEC (nonemployee compensation) for income you receive for contract labor or self-employment of more than $600.

If you work for more than one payor, you’ll receive a 1099-NEC tax form from each company.

Form 1099-K

Using an app or online platform for payments? If you received over $5,000 of business income or payments for goods and services online through a third-party payment system, you’ll be sent a summary of those payments on a 1099-K.

The payments can be made through any:

• Payment app
• Online community marketplace
• Craft or maker marketplace
• Auction site
• Car sharing or ride-hailing platform
• Ticket exchange or resale site
• Crowdfunding platform
• Freelance marketplace

The gross amount of each reportable payment transaction that a payment processor processes for you is often included in a Form 1099-K. You will get individual 1099-Ks from each payment processor documenting the payments you got if you meet the reporting threshold for that particular year from one or more payment processors or third-party payment enterprises. Changes for credits, cash equivalents, discount amounts, fees, returned amounts, or additional sums are not included in the total gross amount displayed on your 1099-K.

Form 1099-G

The 1099-G form reports the following payments to the IRS:

• Unemployment compensation
• State or local income tax refunds, credits, or offsets
• Reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) payments
• Taxable grants
• Agricultural payments or payments on a Credit Corporation (CCC) loan

Federal, state, or local governments will file this form and give you a copy. If you receive these payments, you will use this information return to report income generated from the above sources.

Each box on Form 1099-G corresponds to specific types of payments or important information. Let’s break down what it reports:

• Box 1: Reports the total unemployment compensation paid to you.
• Box 2: Reports refunds, credits, or offsets of state or local income tax.
• Box 5: Total amount of reemployment trade adjustment assistance.
• Box 6: Reports any taxable grants you received from the government.
• Box 7: Payments from a federal or state program to help you with crop or livestock losses.
• Box 9: Reports market gains from certain loans or agricultural programs.
• Box 11: State income tax withheld.

Form 1099-C

This form reports when a lender discharges (canceled or forgiven) debt and the canceled debts of $600 or more. The issuer also reports the amount of debt forgiveness on the form to the IRS.

The party that cancels your debt files a 1099-C form with the IRS. They’ll send you a copy of the form to file with your return. You’ll get another copy to keep for your personal records.

IRS 1099-C box items include:

• Date of the event
• Amount of debt discharged
• Interest (if included)
• Debt description
• Whether you are personally liable for the debt (recourse loans)
• Identifiable event code (such as bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc.)
• Fair market value of the property

Where to get 1099 forms?

You’ll get a 1099 from the person who paid you. Some entities send the form via mail, while others send it digitally. If sent online, you’ll get an email or a link to a portal where you can download the 1099.

When are 1099s sent?

The 1099 form series has different deadlines when they are required to be sent. Below, you’ll see an overview of “required to be sent by” dates:

Tax forms	Recipient deadline
1099-C, 1099-DIV, 1099-G, 1099-INT, 1099-K, 1099-MISC (No Data in Boxes 8 or 10), 1099-NEC, 1099-Q, 1099-R	1/31
1099-B	2/15
1099-S, 1099-MISC (With Data in Boxes 8 or 10)	2/15

1099 forms and backup withholding

In certain cases, income reported on a Form 1099 may be subject to backup tax withholding. If backup withholding applies, the payers of the income will:

• Show the tax withheld on Form 1099, and
• Withhold tax at a rate of 24%, if any of these apply:
  • You don’t provide the payer with your tax identification number, like your Social Security number (SSN).
  • The Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) you provide is incorrect.
  • The IRS notifies the payer that you’ve been underreporting interest or dividends.
  • You haven’t certified that you’re exempt from backup withholding.

1099 form FAQs

If we haven’t answered every 1099 question yet, read our answers to commonly asked questions.

Can I e-file my 1099 forms?

Yes, 1099 forms can be filed electronically. Whether you file with a pro or use our online tax filing options, you can e-file your 1099s with H&R Block.

What if I don’t receive all the 1099s I need?

If you haven’t received all your 1099s by the January 31 or February 15 deadlines, contact the business or agency responsible for sending the 1099 and request they resend a copy of your form.

If you don’t receive the missing form from your issuer by the end of February, contact the IRS at 800-829-1040. The IRS may instruct you to complete Form 4852: Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement or Form 1099-R: Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement, or Profit Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, Etc.

Regardless, you should report all income received on your tax return even if you don’t have the 1099. This helps you avoid potential IRS penalties or audits come tax time. You can always file an amended return using Form 1040-X to correct any errors.

What if there’s an error on my 1099 form?

If you spot a 1099 error, contact the issuer and ask them to send a corrected form. In some cases, they may be able to correct the error before sending the incorrect 1099 form to the IRS. The issuer should refile the 1099 with the IRS and send a recipient copy to you so you can file your taxes.

If you don’t get the corrected form in time, use your own records to report the correct income. Include a statement explaining the discrepancy to help minimize taxes due. Once you receive the corrected form, file an amended return using Form 1040-X to correct any errors based on the new 1099. This process ensures your tax return is accurate and helps you avoid IRS audits or penalties.

What’s the difference between a 1099 and W-2 form?

A 1099 form reports income from self-employment, freelance work, investment, or other non-employee sources. A W-2 form reports wages, salaries, and taxes withheld for employees by their employer.

Learn more about the difference between 1099 and W-2 forms.

Get help with filing 1099 forms

If you’re looking for help filing your Internal Revenue Service 1099 forms, H&R Block is here for you. Whether you file with a tax pro or file with H&R Block Online, you can rest assured that we’ll get you the biggest refund possible.