E-File Form 1099-MISC

What Is the 1099-MISC Form? 

All 1099 form series provide the IRS with all the necessary information about the taxpayer. Specifically, the 1099-MISC form is used to provide information about miscellaneous income.

Before 2020 the document was used by businesses to report nonemployee compensation for U.S. residents, but after the tax year 2020 such payments should be reported with another 1099 IRS form – 1099-NEC. 1099-MISC should be used only for miscellaneous compensations like medical and healthcare payments, rents awards, prizes, attorney payments, etc.

How to Fill Out 1099 MISC Form Online

One of the most convenient ways to complete the 1099-MISC form is online. PDFLiner provides up-to-date IRS Forms and a user-friendly interface.

Follow these steps to complete the form online:

Step 1: Select a Current Year

IRS decided not to update the 1099-MISC every year, so to specify the current calendar year, type the last two digits right under the Form name.

Step 2:  Payer and Recipient Information

Enter your details (as the payer) in the designated fields. This includes your name, address, and taxpayer identification number (SSN or EIN). 

Next, fill in the recipient's information, such as their name, address, and TIN. The recipient is the individual or business receiving the payment. To get the correct recipient’s TIN (SSN or EIN) ask them to send you a completed W-9 Form.

Step 3: Account Number (optional)

If you have an account number for the recipient, you may specify it here for better identification. The account number is required only in the following cases:

• 📎 if you need to file more than one Form 1099-MISC for a recipient who has multiple accounts;
• 📎 if you mark the “FATCA filing requirement” box.

Step 4: Reporting Income

In this section, enter payment amounts for different types of income in the designated boxes:

Box 1: Rents – Report any rental income from real estate or personal property.
Box 2: Royalties – Include royalties from oil, gas, or mineral properties, copyrights, and patents.
Box 3: Other Income – Enter any other miscellaneous income not specified in other boxes.
Box 4: Federal Income Tax Withheld – If you withheld federal income tax from the recipient's payment, report the amount here.
Box 5: Fishing Boat Proceeds – Type here the recipient's share of income from the sale of a catch or the fair market value of a distribution in-kind to each crew member of fishing boats with typically fewer than ten crew members.
Box 6: Medical and Health Care Payments – Report payments made to medical service providers, such as doctors or dentists.
Box 7: Specify if you sold some consumer products to the recipient for resale. Only if the amount is $5,000 or more.
Box 8: Substitute Payments in Lieu of Dividends or Interest – Enter the aggregate amount of substitute payments a broker receives for the customer instead of dividends or tax-exempt interest.
Box 9: Crop Insurance Proceeds – Report insurance payments made to farmers by insurance companies.
Box 10: Gross Proceeds Paid to an Attorney – Enter the gross proceeds from legal settlements paid to attorneys.
Box 11: Fish Purchased for Resale – Write here payments made to a person for the purchase of fish or other aquatic life that the payer intends to resell.
Box 12: Section 409A Deferrals – This one is for the total deferred compensation earned during the tax year but not yet distributed to the recipient. This information helps the IRS monitor compliance with Section 409A and ensure that the deferred amounts are correctly reported and taxed when they are eventually paid out.
Box 14: Excess Golden Parachute Payments – Include any excess golden parachute payments made to disqualified individuals.
Box 15: Nonqualified Deferred Compensation – Enter all amounts deferred (including earnings on amounts deferred) included in income under section 409A.
Boxes 16 - 18: State Tax Withheld, State/Payer's State Number, and State Income – If you participate in the Combined Federal/State Filing Program report the state income tax withheld from the payment and any required state identification number. Or type in the amount of state payment in box 18.

Most payments should be reported only when they exceed $600. However, there are several exceptions:

• 📎 report $10 or more in royalties;
• 📎 any amount of fishing boat proceeds;
• 📎 $10 or more of payments in lieu of dividends or interests;
• 📎 any amount of golden parachute payments.

Step 5: Double-Check Your Entries

After filling in all the relevant information, review your entries for accuracy.
Please review all income figures and verify the accuracy of personal details, including names, addresses, and TINs, for both the payer and receiver.

Step 6: Save and Submit the Form

Submit the completed 1099-MISC form by clicking the Submit button. With PDFLiner you also will be able to send the form to the recipient or print it out for mailing. Each copy should be sent to a different recipient:

• Copy A: to get a copy A that can be filed with the IRS, you would need to order a scannable version;
• Copy 1: is in black and can be filled out and printed because you don't need to file it with the IRS. You should keep it in case your State Tax Department requests it.
• Copy B: send it to a recipient of the payment so that they can keep it as a record;
• Copy 2: send it to a recipient as well, so they can use it for their tax return.
• Copy C: you should keep this copy for a record. IRS requires you to keep copies of 1099s for 4 years from your tax return due date.

In order to file each copy separately use our “Split pages” feature to separate each copy.

Useful Tip: If you use PDFLiner to keep records you can add a tag to each copy of your 1099-MISC form to find it faster as soon as needed.

1099-MISC Examples

Example 1: Freelancer Paying Rent for Co-working

Background:
A freelancer, John Smith, rents a place in a co-working space from Jane Doe, who owns the property. Jane receives $1,000 monthly rent from John, totaling $12,000 per year. As a result, John needs to issue Form 1099-MISC to Jane.

Filling Out the Form:

1. Payer's Information: John will enter his name, address, and his phone number in case the IRS or Jane needs to contact him regarding the form. He types in his Social Security Number as TIN.
2. Recipient's Information: Here, John will enter Jane's name, address, and SSN which he previously received with a W-9 form.
3. Reporting income: John will report the total rent paid to Jane during the year, which is $12,000, in box 1.
4. Other Boxes: John can leave the other boxes blank or enter zeros as appropriate.

Once the form is completed, John will send Copy A to the IRS, Copy 1 to his state's tax department (if applicable), and Copy B and 2 to Jane. Jane will use the information on Copy 2 to report the rental income on her tax return. Copy C John will save it in his records and will keep it for at least 4 years.

Example 2: Company Paying For Construction Services

Background:
ABC Market hired a contractor James Brown to provide construction services. James earns a total of $15,000 for the job. Before 2020 ABC Market would use this form to report the payment. However, now this income should be reported on box 1 of Form 1099-NEC, so they would use this form instead.

Example 3: Crop Insurance Company Paying To a Farmer

Background: 
XYZ Insurance is sending Samantha’s Farm a $30,000 crop insurance check for the damaged grain. This income should be reported to the IRS, so they also file form 1099-MISC along with the check.

Filling Out the Form:

1. Payer's Information: XYZ Insurance will enter their business information as shown on their tax return. And then enter their Employer Identification Number as TIN.
2. Recipient's Information: Next, they will enter Samantha’s Farm FSN (farm serial number) as TIN and the rest of the info from W9.
3. Reporting income: XYZ Insurance will report the crop insurance proceeds payment using line 9.
4. Other Boxes: The rest of the form can be left blank.

Once this is done, XYZ Insurance should send Copies B and 2 to Samantha’s Farm so they can use the info in their Schedule F Form 1040.

IRS Form 1099-MISC Resources

• 📎 Download 1099 form blank
• 📎 Instructions for Requester of Form 1099-misc

Frequently Asked Questions

1️⃣  Who gets a 1099 MISC?

A payer files this document and sends it to the recipient. The form is widely used among traders and businessmen who have to show the amount of money they paid during the entire year to others. It does not include payments for non-employees. If you want to report the payments for non-employees for 2024 tax year, you have to file a 1099-NEC form.

2️⃣  When to use form 1099 NEC vs 1099 MISC?

1099 forms are look pretty similar, however there is a major difference between them. The 1099-NEC is used to report nonemployee compensation, while the 1099-MISC is used to report miscellaneous income.

So use 1099-NEC when you need to report salary or compensation of an individual contractor, for example. And Form 1099-MISC for all other bussinss payments.

3️⃣  What happens if I don’t file my 1099 MISC?

If a payer didn't issue a 1099 the penalty would be $250 per each one. If a payer misses the deadline the penalty is about $100 per form and depends on how late they are filed.

If a receiver doesn't report all the income from forms 1099 on the tax return, IRS will figure it out, because the payer reports about each payment. If you notice the mistake before IRS you should send them form 1040-X to amend your tax return. If they will find out first they might send you a notification and apply penalties. You also might get an audit.

4️⃣  When is Form 1099-MISC deadline?

All businesses must send Form 1099-MISC to receivers until January 31 and to the IRS until February 28 or March 31 if you send the file electronically.

5️⃣  Are there any exceptions in the 1099-MISC report?

There might be several exceptions when the $600 annual minimum does not have to be applied. You need to report the money paid in the next cases, no matter the amount: Royalties in box 2, even if you paid less than $10 per year; Backup withholding, even if the sum is less than $600.