I Didn’t Get a 1099. Do I Still Need to Report the Income?

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The quick answer? Absolutely. 

At this point, many people are in the process of finalizing their tax returns. And for you, that might mean rounding up various 1099 forms, such as those issued by your brokerage account or bank.

The deadline for entities to issue 1099 forms is Jan. 31 each year. And banks and financial institutions are generally pretty good at sticking to that deadline.

But in some cases, you might be within days of the tax-filing deadline with a missing 1099. If you did work for a company that paid you on a freelance basis in 2022, for example, and you don’t have a 1099 summarizing that income, you may be wondering if you have to report it on your upcoming tax return.

The answer is a resounding yes. And if you don’t report that income, the consequences could be quite unfavorable.

Don’t attempt to hide income

Let’s get one thing out of the way. It’s possible for a 1099 form to get lost in the mail, or get lost in your spam filter if sent to you electronically. So the fact that you don’t have a 1099 doesn’t mean one wasn’t issued.

You should also know that when entities issue 1099s, they send a copy to the person who received the income being reported and another copy to the IRS itself. So if you don’t report that income and the IRS has a record of it, you might easily land yourself on the agency’s audit list.

But even if a 1099 form hasn’t been issued for some income you’ve earned, you still have to report it. That’s the law.

Can you get away with not reporting it? Potentially. The IRS may not learn about a $500 payment you received as part of a side gig you did last year.

But chances are, your tax liability on that $500 isn’t so high. So is it really worth the risk of getting audited and facing a penalty for underreporting your income to save a touch of money? Probably not.

You can get around not having a 1099

It may be that you earned, say, $1,000 from a freelance client last year that hasn’t issued you a 1099 and won’t do so in time for this year’s tax-filing deadline. In that case, you can rest assured that you won’t get in trouble for not having a 1099 itself to show the IRS.

The IRS doesn’t need the form — it needs you to report the income. So if you have a record of having earned $1,000 based on payments received in your checking account, you can simply report that and not stress.

In fact, it’s a really good idea to keep track of any money you earn on a freelance basis. That way, you won’t run into trouble when the time comes to report it.

You should also know that if you seem to be missing a copy of a 1099 from a bank or financial institution, chances are, it’s available by logging into your online account. Many banks and financial companies have done away with sending 1099s by mail, so don’t assume that form is missing just because a member of the U.S. Postal Service didn’t deliver it to your mailbox.

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