What is Form 1099-MISC?

Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information, is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form used to report miscellaneous income from individuals and entities that have been paid $10 or more in royalties, or $600 or more in other types of miscellaneous income during a tax year.

You may use Form 1099-MISC to report income from the following:

Awards
Guest Speakers or Lectures
Honorariums
Legal Services
Medical or Dental Services
Performers
Prizes
Rents
Research Subjects (Travel or mileage expenses are not reportable)
Royalties
Other Related Services

Note:

Form 1099-MISC is no longer used to report self-employment taxes or non-employee income. Non-employee professionals include self-employed individuals, independent contractors, and freelancers. Non-employee compensation is now reported using Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation.

How to fill out Form 1099-MISC?

Form 1099-MISC requires your personal information.

Payer’s name

Enter your full legal name.

Complete address

Enter your full address, including city or town, state or province, country, and ZIP or postal code.

Telephone Number

Enter your active telephone number.

Payer’s TIN

Enter your Tax Identification Number (TIN).

Recipient’s TIN

Enter the recipient’s TIN.

Recipient’s name

Enter the full legal name of the recipient.

Recipient’s street address

Enter the street address and apartment number of the recipient.

FATCA filing requirement box

Check the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) box if you are a U.S. citizen reporting

on Form 1099-MISC to comply with the account reporting requirement under Chapter 4 of the Internal Revenue Code.

You can also check the box if you are a Foreign Financial Institution (FFI) reporting payments to

a U.S. account pursuant to an election.

Recipient’s account number

The recipient’s account number should be filled out if you check the FATCA filing requirement

box, and if your recipient has multiple accounts.

2nd TIN not.

Enter “X” if the IRS informed you twice within three tax years that the payee provided

an incorrect TIN.

Box 1 – Rents

Enter the amount paid for rents from real estate such as significant services to the tenant, sold real estate as a business or rented personal property as a business.

Box 2 – Royalties

Enter the amount paid for royalties from oil, gas, or mineral properties; copyrights; and patents.

Box 3 – Other Income

Enter the amount paid for other income such as the beneficiary of a deceased employee, prizes, awards, taxable damages, Indian gaming profits, or other taxable income.

Box 4 – Federal income tax withheld

Enter backup withholding or withholding on Indian gaming profits.

As a payer, you should backup withhold if the recipient did not furnish his or her TIN.

Box 5 – Fishing boat proceeds

Enter the amount paid for a fishing boat crew member who is considered self-employed.

Box 6 – Medical and health care payments

Enter the amount paid for medical and health care payments.

Box 7 – Payer made direct sales totaling $5,000 or more of consumer products to the recipient for resale

Check the box if you paid for consumer products totaling $5,000 or more for resale, on a buy-sell, a deposit-commission, or another basis.

Box 8 – Substitute payments in lieu of dividends or interest

Enter the amount paid for substitute payments instead of dividends or tax-exempt interest.

Box 9 – Crop insurance proceeds

Enter the amount paid for crop insurance proceeds.

Box 10 – Gross proceeds paid to an attorney

Enter the gross amount paid for an attorney in connection with legal services.

Box 11 – Fish purchased for resale

Enter the amount paid for the purchase of fish for resale from any person involved in the transaction of catching fish.

Box 12 – Section 409A deferrals

Enter the amount paid for current year deferrals as a non-employee under a Non-qualified Deferred Compensation (NQDC) plan subject to section 490A, United States Internal Revenue Code, requirements; and other earnings on current or prior-year deferrals.

Box 13 – Excess golden parachute payments

Enter the amount paid for total compensation of excess golden parachute payments subject to a 20% excise tax.

Box 14 – Nonqualified deferred compensation

Enter the amount of income as a non-employee under an NQDC plan that does not meet the section 490A requirements.

Any taxable amount that is included in Box 12 is also included in this box.

Boxes 15 – 17

State tax withheld reporting boxes. You can use these boxes to report payments up to two

states. In box 15, enter the amount of state income tax you withheld; in box 16, enter the state or payer’s state number; in box 17, enter the amount of state income.

How to file Form 1099-MISC?

Form 1099-MISC contains several copies that the payer needs to submit to the appropriate recipients.

Copy A — The payer submits Copy A of Form 1099-MISC to the Internal Service Revenue.
Copy B — The payer gives Copy B of Form 1099-MISC to the recipient.
Copy C — The payer keeps Copy C of Form 1099-MISC.
Copy 1 — The payer submits Copy 1 of Form 1099-MISC to the State Tax Department.
Copy 2 — The payer gives Copy 2 of Form 1099-MISC to the recipient for the recipient to file with his or her state income tax return, when required.

If you want to file electronically, download suitable software and generate a file according to the specifications in Pub. 1220. Please note that the IRS does not provide a fillable form option for Copy A.

Complete this form by using the 2021 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, and the 2021 Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation. These instructions, and other forms, can be accessed through the official website of the IRS.

Why did I receive Form 1099-MISC?

Recipients of Form 1099-MISC are individuals to whom miscellaneous income has been paid during the tax year. You can utilize the 1099-MISC form that you received to determine and categorize the kind of income you received this year. The amount of non-employee income you have received that is stated in this form should be reported in your tax return.

Tips:

If you have other concerns about reporting on Form 1099-MISC, call the information reporting customer service site toll-free at 866-455-7438. If you have a hearing or speech disability with access to TTY/TDD equipment, you can call 304-579-4827 (not toll-free).
For future developments and the latest information regarding Form 1099-MISC and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were published, go to the official website of the IRS.