File Without 1099s
Just like your W2′s, you can file your taxes without your 1099 forms. A 1099 form is used to track your stocks sold, interest or dividend income, or your income if you worked as an independent contractor. It is always better to wait for the forms if at all possible, to ensure accuracy on your return, but with a little bit of information, you don’t need to have the actual forms to do your taxes.
1099s come in a lot of different forms. Below is just a few of the different 1099 forms:
**1099-B Proceeds from broker and barter exchange transactions.
**1099-C Amount of canceled debt.
**1099-DIV Dividends and distributions.
**1099-G Certain government and qualified state tuition program payments (this includes refunds of state income taxes paid).
**1099-INT Interest income.
**1099-LTC Long-term care and accelerated death benefits.
**1099-MISC Miscellaneous income.
**1099-OID Original issue discount payments.
**1099-Q Payments from qualified education programs (Section 529 or 530 plans; Coverdell account distributions used to be included here, too, but now have their own Form 5498-ESA).
**1099-R Distributions from pensions, annuities, retirement or profit-sharing plans, IRAs, insurance contracts, etc. This is an exception to the nonfiling rule. You will need to send in a 1099-R with your return if the statement shows income tax was withheld.
**1099-S Proceeds from real estate transactions.
**SSA-1099 Social Security benefits statement.
**RRB-1099 Payments by the Railroad Retirement Board.
You should be receiving these forms in the same time frame as the W2′s (mid January through beginning of February). If you do not see your forms by early February, you should attempt to contact your employer or bank to find out if the forms have been sent out. You can also get the figures from these agencies that you need to plug into your return if your forms have gone missing. Just like W2′s, you do want to send a copy of your 1099 form with your return so the IRS can double check your figures, however this is not required. If you were missing forms and they finally show up in the mail, do not throw them away. Double check your numbers and if there is a discrepancy, you must file a 1040X to reconcile the difference.
Like before, wait if you can. It is always better to have the exact figures and save yourself from costly mistakes.
You shouldn’t file a tax return without your W-2′s, because the W-2′s MUST be attached to your tax return. However, you can file a SUBSTITUTE form W-2 (using Form 4852) if your employer doesn’t send you a form, or their form is incorrect.
You can file a tax return without your 1099 forms, because (unless withholding has been taken, and appears on the form) you need not attach them to your return. However, since most taxpayers do not keep adequate records, and some income items are only reported by brokers on the 1099 form, you should generally wait until you receive your forms 1099. Keep in mind, that brokers frequently send multiple “corrected 1099′s” in the month’s that follow February, so (if you rely on the 1099′s) you may end up filing multiple amended returns. Depending on the type of securities you hold, it may be better to wait until closer to April to file.
Forms 1099 don’t completely track your stocks sold, interest or dividend income, or your income if you worked as an independent contractor. They provide someone else’s record of these items, which may or may not be accurate and probably will not be complete, unless this is your only broker, investment, client, etc.
Sometimes you need quite a bit of information to accurately do your tax returns. For instance, if you have an investment in the GLD, IAU, or SLV ETF’s, you will need to do several pages of calculations to determine the reportable amounts for 12 monthly “trust sales”, and the information to do so is not available until mid-February.
Although you may receive most 1099′s by the end of January, most brokers don’t send them out until the February 15th deadline. This is because they don’t receive the information from the various sources until early February, and don’t want (them or you) to have to file amended returns.
It is not usually necessary to file a 1040X mail to reconcile a discrepancy. An attachment to the original return, or a letter response to the IRS, is usually all that is needed. Of course, if there is a substantial adjustment to income that result in a change in your tax liability, and the 1099 is correct (which they often are not), then you would have to file a 1040X.
It is not always better to wait for the 1099s. If you keep proper records, you should be able to file as soon as you have received the requisite W-2 forms (which unfortunately MUST be attached, and thus place you at the mercy of the employer). If you are owed a substantial refund, and expect no surprises from the 1099′s you haven’t yet received, it makes more sense to file now, get your refund, and (if necessary) file a 1040X later in the year. The IRS doesn’t even begin cross-matching returns with 1099′s until well after April 15th, by which time your 1040X will have arrived.
Thanks cdg for that clarification and info. In your comment you indicate that W-2s need to be attached to your tax return. When you efile, you don’t need to mail anything in, so when you efile you don’t have to attach a w2 to your return. Hence, you should be able to file without a w-2 if you have all your pay stubs and last year’s w-2 that includes things like the employer id number.