IRS Form 1099 is used by American taxpayers to file their Federal income taxes with the United States Internal Revenue Service. Form 1099 is used to report information on various types of income other than wages, salaries, and tips. Often times IRS Form 1099 is used to report payments made to independent contractors. These payments are known by the IRS as non-employee compensation.
United States Federal tax law requires businesses to submit a Form 1099 for every independent contractor they pay for services valued at more than $600.00 a year. Therefore, numerous businesses and organizations must file hundreds, if not thousands, of IRS Form 1099s every year. The IRS requires that businesses filing 250 or more Form 1099s must file them electronically or magnetically with the IRS. However, electronic filing is expected to be the only acceptable method of filing Form 1099s in the near future.
Independent contractors can use the information provided on the Form 1099s to complete their Federal tax returns. Businesses can give contractors one single Combined Form 1099 at the end of the year listing all of the year’s transactions. Taxpayers are typically not required to attach a Form 1099 to their return unless the Form 1099 includes a report for Federal income tax withheld from the business.
Variations of IRS Form 1099 are also often used to report other types of non-wage income such as interest, dividends, sales proceeds, and other kinds of miscellaneous income. Below is a list of the current variations of IRS Form 1099.
1099-A: acquisition or Abandonment of Secured Property
1099-B: Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions
1099-C: Cancellation of Debt
1099-CAP: Changes in Corporate Control and Capital Structure
1099-DIV: Dividends and Distributions
1099-G: Government Payments
1099-H: Health Insurance Advance Payments
1099-INT: Interest Income
1099-LTC: Long Term Care Benefits
1099-MISC: Miscellaneous Income
1099-OID: Original Income Discount
1099-PATR: Taxable Distributions Received From Cooperatives
1099-Q: Payment from Qualified Education Programs
1099-R: Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement Plans, IRAs, or Insurance Contracts
1099-S: Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions
You can download general instructions for IRS Form 1099 here.