Trade or business reporting only.   Report on Form 1099-MISC only when payments are made in the course of your trade or business. Personal payments are not reportable. You are engaged in a trade or business if you operate for gain or profit. However, nonprofit organizations are considered to be engaged in a trade or business and are subject to these reporting requirements. Nonprofit organizations subject to these reporting requirements include trusts of qualified pension or profit-sharing plans of employers, certain organizations exempt from tax under section 501(c) or (d), and farmers' cooperatives that are exempt from tax under section 521. Payments by Federal, state, or local government agencies are also reportable.

Exceptions.   Some payments are not required to be reported on Form 1099-MISC, although they may be taxable to the recipient. Payments for which a Form 1099-MISC is not required include:

Payments reportable to corporations.   The following payments made to corporations generally must be reported on Form 1099-MISC:

Payments to attorneys.   The term attorney includes a law firm or other provider of legal services. Attorney's fees of $600 or more paid in the course of your trade or business are reportable in box 7 of Form 1099-MISC.

Fish purchases.   If you are in the trade or business of purchasing fish for resale, you must report total cash payments of $600 or more paid during the year to any person who is engaged in the trade or business of catching fish. Report these payments in box 7. You are required to keep records showing the date and amount of each cash payment made during the year, but you must report only the total amount paid for the year on Form 1099-MISC.

  “Fish” means all fish and other forms of aquatic life. “Cash” means U.S. and foreign coin and currency and a cashier's check, bank draft, traveler's check, or money order. Cash does not include a check drawn on your personal or business account.

Canceled debt.   A canceled debt is not reportable on Form 1099-MISC. Canceled debts are required to be reported on Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, by financial institutions, credit unions, Federal Government agencies, certain agencies connected with the Federal Government, and an organization where the lending of money (such as finance and credit card companies) is a significant trade or business. See the Instructions for Forms 1099-A and 1099-C.

Deceased employee's wages paid to estate or beneficiary.   If an employee died during the year, you must report on Form 1099-MISC the accrued wages, vacation pay, and other compensation paid after the date of death. If you made the payment in the same year the employee died, you must withhold social security and Medicare taxes on the payment and report them only as social security and Medicare wages on the employee's Form W-2 to ensure that proper social security and Medicare credit is received. On the Form W-2, show the payment as social security wages (box 3) and Medicare wages and tips (box 5) and the social security and Medicare taxes withheld in boxes 4 and 6; do not show the payment in box 1 of Form W-2. If you made the payment after the year of death, do not report it on Form W-2, and do not withhold social security and Medicare taxes.

  Whether the payment is made in the year of death or after the year of death, you also must report it on Form 1099-MISC for the payment to the estate or beneficiary. Report the payment in box 3 (rather than in box 7 as specified in Rev. Rul. 86-109, 1986-2 C.B. 196). See the Example below. Enter the name and TIN of the payment recipient on Form 1099-MISC. For example, if the recipient is an individual beneficiary, enter the name and social security number of the individual; if the recipient is the estate, enter the name and employer identification number of the estate. The general backup withholding rules apply to this payment.

  However, death benefits from qualified and nonqualified deferred compensation plans paid to the estate or beneficiary of a deceased employee are not reportable on Form 1099-MISC but are reportable on Form 1099-R. See the Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498.

Employee business expense reimbursements.   Do not use Form 1099-MISC to report employee business expense reimbursements. Report payments made to employees under a nonaccountable plan as wages on Form W-2. Generally, payments made to employees under an accountable plan are not reportable on Form W-2, except in certain cases when you pay per diem or mileage allowance. For more information, see the Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 and Pub. 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses. For information on reporting employee moving expense reimbursements on Form W-2, see the Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

Independent contractor or employee.   Generally, you must report payments to independent contractors on Form 1099-MISC in box 7. See the instructions for box 7 on page MISC-4.

Transit passes and parking for independent contractors.   Although you cannot provide qualified transportation fringes to independent contractors, the working condition and de minimus fringe rules for transit passes and parking apply to independent contractors. Tokens or farecards that enable an independent contractor to commute on a public transit system (not including privately operated van pools) are excludable from the independent contractor's gross income and are not reportable on Form 1099-MISC if their value in any month is $21 or less. However, if the value of a pass provided in a month is greater than $21, the full value is includible in gross income and is reportable on Form 1099-MISC. The value of parking may be excludable from an independent contractor's gross income, and, therefore, not reportable on Form 1099-MISC if certain requirements are met. See Regulations section 1.132-9,
Q/A 24.

Directors' fees.   You must report directors' fees and other remuneration, including payments made after retirement, on Form 1099-MISC in the year paid. Report them in box 7.

Commissions paid to lottery ticket sales agents.   A state that has control over and responsibility for on-line and instant lottery games must file Form 1099-MISC to report commissions paid, whether directly or indirectly, to licensed sales agents. For example, State X retains control over and liability for on-line and instant lottery games. For on-line ticket sales, State X pays commissions by allowing an agent to retain 5% of the ticket proceeds the agent remits to State X. For instant ticket sales, State X pays commissions by providing tickets to the agent for 5% less than the proceeds to be obtained by the agent from the sale of those tickets. If the commissions for the year total $600 or more, they must be reported in box 7 on Form 1099-MISC. See Rev. Rul. 92-96, 1992-2 C.B. 281.

Escrow agent; construction project.   When an escrow agent maintains owner-provided funds in an escrow account for a construction project, performs management and oversight functions relating to the construction project, and makes payments for the owner and the general contractor, the escrow agent must file Form 1099-MISC for reportable payments of $600 or more. This requirement applies whether or not the escrow agent is a bank. If the contractor is the borrower of the funds, do not report on Form 1099-MISC any loan payments made to the contractor/borrower.

Indian gaming profits, payments to tribal members.   If you make payments to members of Indian tribes from the net revenues of class II or class III gaming activities conducted or licensed by the tribes, you must withhold Federal income tax on such payments and file Form 1099-MISC.

  File Form 1099-MISC to report the distributions to tribal members. Report the payments in box 3 and the Federal income tax withheld in box 4. Pub. 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, contains the necessary “Tables for Withholding on Distributions of Indian Gaming Profits to Tribal Members.”

State or local sales taxes.   If state or local sales taxes are imposed on the service provider and you (as the buyer) pay them to the service provider, report them on Form 1099-MISC as part of the reportable payment. However, if sales taxes are imposed on you (as the buyer) and collected from you by the service provider, do not report the sales taxes on Form 1099-MISC.

Statements to recipients.   If you are required to file Form 1099-MISC, you must provide a statement to the recipient. For more information about the requirement to furnish a statement to each recipient, see part H in the 2003 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

2nd TIN not.   You may enter an “X” in this box if you were notified by the IRS twice within 3 calendar years that the payee provided an incorrect TIN. If you mark this box, the IRS will not send you any further notices about this account.

Enter amounts of $600 or more for all types of rents, such as real estate rentals paid for office space (unless paid to a real estate agent), machine rentals (e.g., renting a bulldozer to level your parking lot), and pasture rentals (e.g., farmers paying for the use of grazing land). If the machine rental is part of a contract that includes both the use of the machine and the operator, the rental should be prorated between the rent of the machine (reported in box 1) and the operator's charge (reported as nonemployee compensation in box 7). Public housing agencies must report in box 1 rental assistance payments made to owners of housing projects. See Rev. Rul. 88-53, 1988-1 C.B. 384.

Enter gross royalty payments of $10 or more before reduction for severance and other taxes that may have been withheld and paid. Include in this box gross royalties (before reduction for fees, commissions, or expenses) paid by a publisher directly to an author or literary agent or paid by a literary agent to an author. Do not include surface royalties. They should be reported in box 1. Do not report oil or gas payments for a working interest in box 2; report payments for working interests in box 7. Do not report timber royalties made under a pay-as-cut contract; report such timber royalties on Form 1099-S, Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions.

Enter other income of $600 or more required to be reported on Form 1099-MISC that is not reportable in one of the other boxes on the form.

Also enter in box 3 prizes and awards that are not for services performed. Include the fair market value (FMV) of merchandise won on game shows. Also include amounts paid to a winner of a sweepstakes not involving a wager. If a wager is made, report the winnings on Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings.

If, not later than 60 days after the winner becomes entitled to the prize, the winner can choose the option of a lump sum or an annuity payable over at least 10 years, the payment of winnings is considered made when actually paid. If the winner chooses an annuity, file Form 1099-MISC each year to report the annuity paid during that year.

Do not include prizes and awards paid to your employees. Report these on Form W-2. Do not include in box 3 prizes and awards for services performed by nonemployees, such as an award for the top commission salesperson. Report them in
box 7.

Prizes and awards received in recognition of past accomplishments in religious, charitable, scientific, artistic, educational, literary, or civic fields are not reportable if (a) the winners are chosen without action on their part, (b) the winners are not expected to perform future services, and (c) the payer transfers the prize or award to a charitable organization or governmental unit under a designation made by the recipient. See Rev. Proc. 87-54, 1987-2 C.B. 669.

Other items required to be reported in box 3 include the following:

If the termination payments do not meet these requirements, report them in box 7.

Enter backup withholding. For example, persons who have not furnished their TIN to you are subject to withholding at a 28% rate on payments required to be reported in boxes 1, 2 (net of severance taxes), 3, 5 (to the extent paid in cash), 6, 7 (except fish purchases for cash), 8, 10, and 14. For more information on backup withholding, see the 2003 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Also enter any income tax withheld from payments to members of Indian tribes from the net revenues of class II or class III gaming activities conducted or licensed by the tribes.

Enter the share of all proceeds from the sale of a catch or the FMV of a distribution in kind to each crew member of fishing boats with normally fewer than 10 crew members. A fishing boat has normally fewer than 10 crew members if the average size of the operating crew was fewer than 10 on trips during the preceding 4 calendar quarters.

In addition, report cash payments of up to $100 per trip that are contingent on a minimum catch and are paid solely for additional duties (such as mate, engineer, or cook) for which additional cash payments are traditional in the industry. However, do not report on Form 1099-MISC any wages reportable on Form W-2.

Enter payments of $600 or more made in the course of your trade or business to each physician or other supplier or provider of medical or health care services. Include payments made by medical and health care insurers under health, accident, and sickness insurance programs. If payment is made to a corporation, list the corporation as the recipient rather than the individual providing the services. Payments to persons providing health care services often include charges for injections, drugs, dentures, and similar items. In these cases the entire payment is subject to information reporting. You are not required to report payments to pharmacies for prescription drugs.

The exemption from issuing Form 1099-MISC to a corporation does not apply to payments for medical or health care services provided by corporations, including professional corporations. However, you are not required to report payments made to a tax-exempt hospital or extended care facility or to a hospital or extended care facility owned and operated by the United States (or its possessions), a state, the District of Columbia, or any of their political subdivisions, agencies, or instrumentalities.

Enter nonemployee compensation of $600 or more. Include fees, commissions, prizes and awards for services performed as a nonemployee, other forms of compensation for services performed for your trade or business by an individual who is not your employee, and fish purchases for cash. Include oil and gas payments for a working interest, whether or not services are performed. Also include expenses incurred for the use of an entertainment facility that you treat as compensation to a nonemployee. Federal executive agencies that make payments to vendors for services, including payments to corporations, must report the payments in this box. See Rev. Rul. 2003-66, 2003-26 I.R.B. 1115.

Enter aggregate payments of at least $10 received by a broker for a customer in lieu of dividends or tax-exempt interest as a result of a loan of a customer's securities. For this purpose, a customer includes an individual, trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation. It does not include a tax-exempt organization, the United States, any state, the District of Columbia, a U.S. possession, or a foreign government. File Form 1099-MISC with the IRS and furnish a copy to the customer for whom you received the payment. Also, file Form 1099-MISC for and furnish a copy to an individual for whom you received a payment in lieu of tax-exempt interest.

Substitute payment means a payment in lieu of (a) a dividend or (b) tax-exempt interest to the extent that interest (including OID) has accrued while the securities were on loan.

If you are not required to make a report on Form 1099-MISC for substitute dividends of at least $10, you must report the substitute dividends on Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions.

Enter an “X” in the checkbox for sales by you of $5,000 or more of consumer products to a person on a buy-sell, deposit-commission, or other commission basis for resale (by the buyer or any other person) anywhere other than in a permanent retail establishment. Do not enter a dollar amount in this box.

If you are reporting an amount in box 7, you may also check box 9 on the same Form 1099-MISC.

The report you must give to the recipient for these direct sales need not be made on the official form. It may be in the form of a letter showing this information along with commissions, prizes, awards, etc.

Enter crop insurance proceeds of $600 or more paid to farmers by insurance companies unless the farmer has informed the insurance company that expenses have been capitalized under section 278, 263A, or 447.

Make no entries in these boxes.

Enter any excess golden parachute payments. See Golden parachute payments on page MISC-5.

Report gross proceeds paid to an attorney in connection with legal services (regardless of whether the services are performed for the payer). See Payments to attorneys on page MISC-2.

You may use box 15 to provide any other information to the recipient.

These boxes, and Copies 1 and 2, are provided for your convenience only and need not be completed for the IRS. Use the state information boxes to report payments for up to two states. Keep the information for each state separated by the dash line. If you withheld state income tax on this payment, you may enter it in box 16. In box 17, enter the abbreviated name of the state and the payer's state identification number. The state number is the payer's identification number assigned by the individual state. In box 18, you may enter the amount of the state payment. Use Copy 1 to provide information to the state tax department. Give Copy 2 to the recipient for use in filing the recipient's state income tax return.