Sunday, February 1, 2015

Form 1099-A vs. Form 1099-C – And What Do I Do With Them On My Income Tax Return?


By JC Leahy, MA Accounting
jcleahy@TaxHelpWhenYouNeedIt.com
Twitter@TaxHelpWhenNeed

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There is a lot of misinformation out there about the Form 1099-A (Acquisition or Abandonment of Secured Property.  Taxpayers are often confused because they were expecting to receive a 1099-C (Forgiveness of Debt) and found a 1099-A in the mailbox instead.  Alternatively, they are confused because they received both a 1099-A and 1099-C from the same foreclosure.  I’ll try to clarify this for you as succinctly as possible.

To put it in context: The IRS needs to be notified every time real property is sold.  After a normal real estate sale, the seller receives a Form  1099-S (Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions) to report the sale to the IRS.  In a “short sale” or deed in lieu of foreclosure, the property owner also receives a 1099-S because he gave up the property willingly.  In the case of a foreclosure, however, the property owner’s giving up the property was involuntary.  That property owner receives a different form; namely, Form 1099-A.  Form 1099-A serves the same basic purpose of reporting to the IRS that the property has changed hands.  The lender will issue the 1099-A.

Form 1099-C, on the other hand, indicates that the lender forgave  the mortgage debt.   You won’t always get a 1099-C after a foreclosure.  For example, the value of the seized property may be enough to pay off the mortgage; therefore, there’s nothing to forgive.   You might receive a 1099-C but no 1099-A because filing the 1099-C satisfies the lender’s obligation to issue a 1099-A.  You may also receive both, but in that event  Boxes 4, 5, and 7 on the 1099-C would be left blank.

Use the 1099-A just as you would a 1099-S: to calculate gain or loss on the “sale” of the property.  Use 1099-C instead of 1099-A to calculate gain or loss if you did not receive a 1099-A.  Then, in any event, if you received a Form 1099-C, use that to calculate your forgiveness-of-debt income.

That’s it in a nutshell.  For more details about how to compute gain/loss and forgiveness of debt income, see my earlier article at the link below:

Tax Implications of Foreclosures and Short Sales



2 comments:

  1. It's an easy process who're looking for 1099 A Form Online. You can clearly explain about it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks again for all the great information…I am grateful! 1099 A Form Online. You can clearly explain about it.

    ReplyDelete