1099 forms for self-employed

rhymegirl

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Does anyone know what the deadline is for publishers/companies to send 1099 forms to freelance writers? And yes, I made over $600 with this publisher.

Aren't we supposed to receive this document by the end of January? I still don't have mine and my husband and I want to file our income taxes.
 

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Many employers don't file a 1099; that's their look out, not yours.

Just file the full amount you were paid by each client, and include any 1099s you do receive.

The dead line c. January 22; or the closest weekday.
 

JanDarby

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For U.S. companies, it's required to be mailed by the last day of January.

If you don't have it, ask them why not. It may have been sent to the wrong place, etc.. Or they may be taking some position whereby they're not required to report it to the IRS. Whether that's true or not, whether they ever report it or not, you need to report it as income.
 

mlhernandez

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Yes, they have to send it out by Jan 31. It's the law. I didn't get mine from one of my publishers despite multiple promises. I finally just asked a fellow author for the Payer ID for the publisher and used my royalty statements to calculate the amount for Box 2.
 

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Yes, they have to send it out by Jan 31. It's the law. I didn't get mine from one of my publishers despite multiple promises. I finally just asked a fellow author for the Payer ID for the publisher and used my royalty statements to calculate the amount for Box 2.

Royalty income isn't income until you get the check. Report the amount on the check.

Remember that the royalty statement in some ways is an estimate; the check represents money. Also, remember that the amount on the royalty statement doesn't include your agent's percentage, or any unusual expenses incurred on your behalf by the agent.
 

mlhernandez

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Royalty income isn't income until you get the check. Report the amount on the check.

Remember that the royalty statement in some ways is an estimate; the check represents money. Also, remember that the amount on the royalty statement doesn't include your agent's percentage, or any unusual expenses incurred on your behalf by the agent.

Yes. I know. My royalty statements accompany my monthly or quarterly checks. The bulk of my writing income comes from erotic romance and erotica epublishing so the payment and statement model is different than commercial print publishing with agents, reserves against returns, advance earn out, etc.

To the OP, this is also one of the reasons I keep records for every short story, novella, novel or freelance piece I do. It takes time to plug it all into Excel but it cuts down on the time it takes to prepare my taxes. It's a good way to check my 1099-Misc against my checks too.
 

rhymegirl

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Okay, thanks everybody.

I told the editor I haven't received my 1099. He said there were errors in the documents so the company had to re-do them and I should see my 1099 soon. But still. It's almost March 1.
 

Ralyks

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Does anyone know what the deadline is for publishers/companies to send 1099 forms to freelance writers? And yes, I made over $600 with this publisher.

Aren't we supposed to receive this document by the end of January? I still don't have mine and my husband and I want to file our income taxes.

Yes, but I have received them late before. Very annoying. This year I mailed my taxes the second week of Feb. and, after mailing, got a 1099 in the mail on the very same day. Argggg.... Now, I put those earnings under "other income" on my schedule C, so it was reported, it's just that it was not on the 1099 line. I don't know if that requires me to file an ammended return. It doesn't change my total taxes at all, of course, as the money was included on the schedule C, but I wonder if it will send up a red flag for an audit.

I do freelance content writing (as well as receiving royalties on my novels), and some of my clients send 1099's, and some don't, and I never know if I am going to get one. I just assumed this client wasn't going to send one, since I had not recieved one by the second week of February. I should just wait until April to file my taxes...but I get impatient.
 
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WildScribe

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Yes. I know. My royalty statements accompany my monthly or quarterly checks. The bulk of my writing income comes from erotic romance and erotica epublishing so the payment and statement model is different than commercial print publishing with agents, reserves against returns, advance earn out, etc.

To the OP, this is also one of the reasons I keep records for every short story, novella, novel or freelance piece I do. It takes time to plug it all into Excel but it cuts down on the time it takes to prepare my taxes. It's a good way to check my 1099-Misc against my checks too.

Me too! Whether it's a short story payment or a freelance article, every check gets photocopied and filed for taxes.
 

rhymegirl

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Well, I finally received my 1099 Miscellaneous income form today! I have records of my published articles, but this piece of paper confirms the amount I earned in 2010.
 
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fov

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I got a couple of 1099s on schedule, but several I was expecting didn't show up. I sent reminders to the clients on February 1. Received one last week (postmarked Feb 16) even though I was told it was mailed the last week of January. Got one this week after reminding the client twice. And one still hasn't arrived -- oops, just yesterday they realized they didn't have my SSN. Frustrating. I didn't have this problem last year.

At least the people who missed the deadline have been forthcoming about telling me how much income they're reporting, which was especially important since in one case where there was a discrepancy that we needed to work out. I do keep a record of my payments and the date the money was received.
 
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chris13

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As long as you report all income received, you are okay. After all, if you are reporting more than the IRS receives in 1099s for you, will the IRS tell you that you are paying too much taxes? Aother issue is the quarterly filings of estimated taxes, but you are reporting what you received so that should be okay, also.