How To Find Out If A 1099 Was Issued

Are there any penalties for losing a 1099 form?

At that place are no penalties for losing whatsoever 1099 forms you receive as a cocky-employed person.

Surprised? That'south probably because in that location are penalties on the payer's side. If you're waiting on a tardily class, your customer can be charged for failing to consequence a 1099 on time. As the payee, though, you have nothing to worry almost.

Rule of thumb: Penalties related to 1099s generally apply to the clients or companies sending them — rarely to the contained contractors receiving them.

The simply way you might exist on the hook for a 1099 penalty is if you refused to cooperate with a payer who tried to collect your information so they could file it. (In that case, you would be liable for the runaway form, not the payer.) Simply that penalty doesn't utilise to someone who simply lost their 1099.

Why independent contractors aren't penalized for lost 1099s

Whether you misplaced your grade or just never got one in the starting time place, the IRS won't charge y'all annihilation extra.

Why? Information technology's considering freelancers and contained contractors aren't required to include any 1099s they receive when they file their revenue enhancement returns.

That's right — you don't really need your 1099-NECs or 1099-Ks to file.

Think of it this way: sometimes freelancers don't go 1099 forms for every task they do. (Unless you earned over $600, your client isn't required to issue i.) Even so, they're still able to file on time.

The same is true if you did go a 1099 just lost track of it somehow.

Indirect penalties from waiting to file

There are no direct penalties for losing 1099s. That said, you can end upwardly with a penalty if you wait too long to file considering of a lost 1099.

Recollect of this as an indirect penalty stemming from missing documents. Say you misplaced a 1099-NEC. Because you lot're hoping it'll turn up somewhere, y'all delay declining till the deadline has passed — and yous don't ask for an extension. In that example, y'all'll exist on the hook for late filing penalties.

These tin can include:

A penalization for declining to file your return on time
A penalty for failing to pay your taxes (if you stop up owing the IRS instead of getting a refund)

These penalties can add upward to 25% of the amount you owe — something yous definitely don't desire to pay.

Luckily, it'due south completely possible to file without a 1099.

Why yous don't need a 1099 to file

Equally mentioned to a higher place, 1099s never really need to be included when y'all file your federal income taxation render. (That's one one of the differences between Form 1099 and Form Westward-ii, which traditional employees get.)

One question some taxpayers accept: Why does the IRS ask clients and payment apps to send you 1099-NECs and 1099-Ks if you don't accept to include them with your render?

1099s are for the IRS'southward benefit

Every 1099 yous're sent as well gets sent to the IRS. The forms keep in the loop about taxable payments made to self-employed people.

Bottom line: The bureau already has a copy, whether or non you use it when you lot use it when you file.

Equally a result, a form going MIA is no big deal to the IRS. You tin still file every bit soon equally you'd like — y'all just have to study your income without your 1099.

To pull that off, though, you'll demand to effigy out how much you lot actually earned.

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3 ways to figure out your income without your 1099

Class 1099 isn't the only way to runway your self-employment income. In fact, because of how inconsistently these forms are issued, information technology's not even the best way to track your income.

Whether you lost one 1099 or misplaced them all, here are three culling approaches to figuring your income so you can file.

1. Await through your bank accounts

👑 Best if: You can't remember which 1099s you lost
👍 Pros: Guarantees you won't accidentally under report your income
👎 Cons: Fourth dimension consuming

Don't know which 1099 forms you lot lost? You lot can reconstruct your income using your banking concern statements. It's a adept thought to become through this process anyway if you have self-employment income that you didn't become a 1099 for — say, because you earned less than $600 from that client.

⏩ How tin you lot relieve fourth dimension using this method?

This method can exist time-consuming — especially if y'all don't have a dedicated business organization depository financial institution account, or if multiple customers' payments are sometimes lumped together in a single deposit.

To make things easier, check if your bank provides an annual summary of your account action. That fashion, yous won't have to manually comb through every month'due south transactions.

🏆 Why is this the all-time fashion to figure out your income?

At the end of the day, your banking company account is the nearly accurate fashion to add up your earnings — fifty-fifty more than than relying on your 1099s. Information technology gives you a bird's-eye view of all your income, guaranteeing you won't miss annihilation.

Adding upward all your deposits tin can be disheartening: it's like you can feel your taxation bill going up in real-time. Luckily, at that place'due south an easy, legal way to lower your taxable income: taking business write-offs.

If you haven't been keeping rail of everything yous bought for piece of work, utilize Keeper Tax. The app automatically scans your whole yr's worth of purchases to identify anything that's taxation-deductible and write it off for y'all. It works even if you have a single account for business concern and personal use.

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2. Add upward your invoices or receipts

👑 All-time if: Yous know exactly which forms you lost
👍 Pros: Efficient
👎 Cons: Relies on records that you lot generated

This arroyo works all-time if yous know which 1099 forms y'all lost and were relatively good about recordkeeping throughout the year.

The method itself is simple: merely add up all the invoices or receipts you sent to the client — or clients — whose 1099s you lot lost.

⚠️ What are the risks with this method?

This is by far the fastest way to reconstruct the income from whatsoever missing 1099s, but there's i major caveat: it'due south only as authentic as the records y'all kept.

For example, say y'all're relying on receipts y'all issued. If y'all forgot to generate i for a project you got paid for, y'all'll finish upward understating your income.

Because the IRS has a copy of the 1099 your client sent out, they'll meet the difference betwixt what you lot reported and what the lost 1099 said. And they'll come knocking.

The takeaway hither: Just rely on your invoices or receipts if y'all're absolutely sure they're accurate.

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3. Order an IRS Transcript

👑 Best if: You filed an extension
👍 Pros: Makes the IRS exercise the work for yous
👎 Cons: Only works after the filing deadline

Your final choice for figuring out your income is ordering an IRS transcript. These are free, only getting one will but be helpful if y'all file an extension by the tax deadline.

🧾 What is an IRS transcript?

IRS transcripts are records of your past returns. There are multiple different types. A Revenue enhancement Render Transcript, for example, shows almost of the info that was on your 1040 tax render.

To replace a lost 1099 form, y'all'll desire a Wage and Income Transcript. These show data from information returns that were filed for you, including 1099s.

🗓️ Why are IRS transcripts only useful if you take an extension?

The prior year's transcript isn't available until later the April income tax filing deadline. For the 2021 revenue enhancement year, for case, you can't get your Wage and Income Transcript until May 2022.

An extension gives y'all until October fifteen to file your taxes — plenty of time for your transcript to come in.

🙋 How do you request a transcript?

To get your Wage and Income Transcript, go to the "Become Transcript Online" tool on the IRS website and submit a request.

Screenshot of the IRS portal used to request your tax transcripts for free

If you prefer to get it past mail, you'll need to:

📝 Complete the application
📫 Verify your identity with the mailing address from your latest tax return
⏱️ Expect five-10 calendar days to receive your transcript.

For more guidance, check out the IRS'south FAQs about transcript requests.

How (and when) to get a replacement 1099

In general, getting a replacement 1099 isn't necessary, and waiting on one puts you at gamble of filing late.

Still, there might exist a few cases where the three methods in a higher place don't work for you — say, if you switched banks mid-year and lost access to the former account.

If you can't reconstruct your income without an actual 1099, you tin can ask for a replacement course.

Step #ane: ☎️ Call to request a replacement

Calling your client is usually the easiest style to become a copy of a lost Form 1099.

Businesses are required to keep copies of the 1099s they give out to contractors.

Step #2: ⛔ Brand certain non to enquire for a newly issued form

You'll want to inquire for a copy of the form they already sent you. If, for some reason, they can't find it, make certain they don't event you a brand new 1099.

Issuing a new class, later all, ways sending one to the IRS besides. Because 1099s are linked to your Social Security number (or Employer Identification number), the IRS may remember you received twice the amount of income y'all actually earned from that client.

Step #3: ⏳ Prepare to look

You may need to be patient. If your customer is a large company, yous may have to wait a few days for them to sort through their records for your 1099.

That's why information technology makes sense to go this process started early. To really be on the rubber side, file for an extension on your taxes while you wait.

Ways to forbid losing your 1099

While y'all tin file your taxes without a lost 1099, y'all may not want to bargain with the stress of hunting for the form.

Here are a couple of steps you can take to prevent a misplaced 1099 from derailing your next tax filing.

🗂️ Store your 1099s in 1 place

Discover an organizational organisation that works for you. It can exist as simple equally a file folder where you put all your tax documents each twelvemonth.

The key is to keep them all together, so you know exactly where to look.

📱 Back up physical 1099s with electronic copies

Losing your physical 1099 class doesn't take to mean losing all the information on it. Adjacent time, take a picture of — or scan — your 1099s as soon every bit you get them.

Store these backup images in a folder on your computer, and you'll exist all set if you lose your concrete forms.

Important note: Don't store copies of your tax documents on the deject. Forms like your 1099 often include sensitive personal data, similar your Social Security number.

At the end of the twenty-four hour period, you tin can still file an accurate revenue enhancement return even without all your 1099s. The key is to report your income accurately.

If yous don't want to go through the hassle of filing manually, endeavor the Keeper Taxation app. After using it to detect write-offs, yous tin file directly on your phone.

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The app makes it easy to manually enter your income, and you can also upload any 1099s yous exercise accept.

Don't let a lost taxation form ruin your revenue enhancement season. Get to filing at present!

At Keeper Revenue enhancement, we're on a mission to help freelancers overcome the complexity of their taxes. That sometimes leads us to generalize taxation advice. Delight e-mail back up@keepertax.com if yous have questions.