If you receive interest payments, whether from an entity or from an individual, you’re likely to face the need of dealing with Form 1099-INT. But what is 1099-INT? Find out the definition of this form as well as the 1099-INT requirements for this year and how to meet them.
Article Breakdown
What Is Form 1099-INT?
According to the Form 1099-INT definition, it’s to be used for reporting interest payments. More often than not, the bank sends you one if you receive such a payment, although this doesn’t necessarily mean that you are to pay tax on this income. It can be the bank itself that pays you interest on your savings there. Apart from banks, there are other financial institutions likely to provide this form to you for completion.
The form is essentially a variation of the IRS Form 1099, which is used for reporting income from entities and individuals other than your regular employers.
Who Must File 1099-INT Form: Interest Income?
According to Form 1099-int instructions, you qualify for completing this form if you received at least 10 USD as interest within the respective tax year.
There are a few scenarios that lead to this. As has been mentioned above, your bank requires you to fill out and file this form in case it has been paying you interest on savings. A similar situation occurs when you have purchased bonds or another kind of securities and receive income on those. Pension and retirement plans make another big category that might fit into the definition.
Depending on your case, you’re likely to get other reporting forms along with your 1099-INT, such as 1099-OID for financial issues or 1099-R for retirement plans. Please note that it’s the person who has received the interest as income who’s expected to complete the form. This enables the IRS to make sure your income is taxed.
How to Fill Out Form 1099-INT?
If you find that you should complete the form but don’t have it because you haven’t received one from those paying you, the solution is to use a 1099-INT fillable form template. PDF is a ubiquitous and easy-to-use e-documentation format that fits this purpose well.
The form consists of two pages. These are copies of the same thing, one for the IRS and the other for the State Tax Department.
Start completing the form by checking the personal details on the left side of the form. They include:
- the payer’s name, address, and telephone number;
- their Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN);
- the recipient’s TIN, i.e., yours;
- your name as the recipient;
- your account number.
Only check the FATCA filing requirement if you are eligible to file Form 8938.
On the right, you’ll find 15 boxes reporting various kinds of interest income as well as the amount of tax withheld, plus two for your state and state identification number. Fill these out in order. Box 2 specifies the amount of penalty on your interest for withdrawing your earnings before the maturity date.
In case you wonder what tax-exempt in Box 8 interest might be, this refers to interest on investment in state and local governments determined as such.
How to File Form 1099-INT?
According to the Form 1099-INT instructions, you mustn’t print and file Copy A (the one shown in red) from the IRS official website because it’s not scannable. However, there’s nothing to prevent you from filing it electronically using the IRS Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system.
In fact, there’s usually no need to attach the copies of the 1099-INT forms you receive as a recipient. All you need is to report the information you get when reporting your taxes in general. Every institution paying you at least 10 USD of interest has to file one before January 31 and file a copy with the IRS.
Form 1099-INT: A Simple Form for Reporting Interest Income
As you can see, 1099-INT is a tool that’s quick and easy to use. If you’re the recipient, you’ll only need the information in it to keep track of your interest income.
Based on the article from pdfliner.com