What is Form 1099?

The IRS Form 1099 is a group of tax forms businesses use to report payments made to individuals or entities who aren’t employees. These forms help the IRS track income earned by these recipients over the year.

Different versions of Form 1099 are used to report different types of payments made to individuals or businesses. For example, businesses use them to report payments to independent contractors, rents, awards, interest income, dividends, investment distributions, retirement plan distributions, sales of assets, and government payments like unemployment benefits.