Now that tax season has arrived, we are all patiently waiting to receive our tax forms in the mail.  While many will receive a W-2 from our employer, some may receive a 1099 for work performed or other reasons.  Some common 1099 forms are for interest income, retirement accounts, real estate or broker exchange transactions, merchant card payments, or just miscellaneous income.  As with W-2s, any 1099 should be received by January 31st of the following year.  Here are three things you can do if you do not receive them:

1.    You can follow up or request another one from your payer.  Be careful when requesting another copy of your 1099 that the second copy does not get reported an additional income.

2.    You could request your IRS transcript.  It will show all the income reported to IRS, such as the information on that 1099 you are waiting for.  However, it may take several weeks to receive them from IRS.  In addition, people often experience extremely long wait times on the telephone, possible identity theft issues, or the IRS website is down.

3.    You can report the income on your return without the 1099.  The IRS will have the information from the 1099 already based on your social security number.  Having the 1099 form verifies the amount.  For 1099s involving interest or miscellaneous income, you should have some paperwork, such as an invoice or bank statement, that state the information you need to report the income on your tax return.  This is why it is very important to keep good records throughout the year.

The bottom line with your 1099s is to be patient, stay in contact with the payer, and know that there are other avenues to request the information if need be.  Good Luck!  
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