1099-INT Box-by-Box Breakdown
Most people who land here have the form in hand and just need to know what one specific box means.
| Box | What it reports |
|---|---|
| Box 1 | Taxable interest not included in Box 3. Ordinary bank, CD, and business interest. |
| Box 2 | Early withdrawal penalty. Interest or principal forfeited for cashing a time deposit like a CD early. |
| Box 3 | Interest on U.S. Savings Bonds, Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. |
| Box 4 | Federal income tax withheld, which in practice means backup withholding. |
| Box 6 | Foreign tax paid on interest, reported in U.S. dollars. |
| Box 8 | Tax-exempt interest of $10 or more, typically from state or local government obligations. |
Two boxes deserve extra attention. Box 3 income is federally taxable but generally exempt from state income tax, so keeping it out of Box 1 matters to the recipient's state return. Box 2 represents a penalty the recipient can deduct as an adjustment to income, so folding it into Box 1 quietly costs them money.
The FATCA Checkbox
Check this box if you're a U.S. payer reporting on Form 1099 to satisfy your reporting requirement for a U.S. account under chapter 4. Most small business payers never check it. When you're unsure whether it applies, confirm against the IRS instructions for Form 1099-INT rather than guessing.
1099 INT Filing Deadlines and the E-File Threshold
Interest reporting runs on three dates, and they shift when they land on a weekend. For tax year 2026, filed in early 2027:
| Obligation | Due date |
|---|---|
| Copy B to the recipient | Monday, February 1, 2027 |
| Copy A to the IRS on paper | Monday, March 1, 2027 |
| Electronic filing to the IRS | Wednesday, March 31, 2027 |
The first two moved because January 31 and February 28 both fall on a Sunday in 2027. That rollover is a standing rule rather than a one-off: when a due date lands on a weekend or legal holiday, the next business day applies.
One threshold now catches smaller filers. File 10 or more information returns of any type combined, counting W-2s and 1099s together, and electronic filing becomes mandatory. That aggregate limit dropped from 250 for returns required to be filed on or after January 1, 2024, and it pulls in businesses that used to mail a small stack of paper without a second thought.
How to Create a 1099 INT Form Online
Producing the document yourself takes three steps.
- Enter the details. Payer name, address, and TIN, then the recipient's, followed by the amounts for each box.
- Preview the result. Check the figures and the box placement before you commit. Errors are far cheaper to fix here than after a recipient has filed.
- Download the PDF. Save it to your records and deliver the recipient copy.
Our 1099 INT generator handles the layout so the document comes out clean and readable instead of hand-typed onto a blank template. One caveat worth knowing: a downloaded PDF works for the recipient copy and your own records, but paper filing Copy A with the IRS requires the official scannable form. Filing electronically sidesteps that problem entirely. Need employee pay documentation in the same sitting? Our pay stub templates cover the payroll side of your records.
Common 1099-INT Filing Mistakes to Avoid
Five errors account for most interest reporting problems.
- A missing or mismatched TIN. Names and taxpayer ID numbers that don't line up with IRS records trigger backup withholding obligations and CP2100 notices. Collect a W-9 before you pay, not after.
- Printing Copy A from the website. The downloadable Copy A isn't scannable. Paper filers need the official version from the IRS, or they file electronically instead.
- Skipping the FATCA checkbox. It applies narrowly, but leaving it blank when it does apply is a reporting failure.
- Paper filing over the threshold. Ten aggregate returns and up means electronic filing, not envelopes.
- Swapping payer and recipient fields. On a 1099-INT form the payer is the party that paid the interest out. Reversing the two assigns income to the wrong taxpayer, and it's a common data entry slip.
Nominee Interest: When You Must Issue a 1099-INT
Here's the situation almost nobody plans for. You hold a joint or partnership account, the 1099-INT arrives with your Social Security number on it, but part of that interest belongs to someone else.
Report the full amount on Schedule B, line 1, then enter a subtotal. Below it, write "Nominee Distribution" with the share that isn't yours and subtract it. The remainder carries to line 2.
Then comes the part that creates real work. You also have to furnish a 1099-INT to the actual owner, unless that person is your spouse, and file it with the IRS along with Form 1096. A shared business account can quietly turn you into a payer. The Schedule B instructions walk through the mechanics.
Which Form 1099-INT Revision Do You Need
Searches for "1099-INT form 2025" and "1099-INT form 2026" both land on the same document. There is no annual Form 1099-INT. The IRS put it on continuous use, and the current revision is January 2024 for both tax years. The year in the search refers to the tax year of the interest you paid, not to a separate version of the form. It shares one instruction document with Form 1099-OID, and those instructions carry no What's New section at all, so nothing about the form itself has changed.
What does move between years is the calendar, and only because of weekend rolls. Interest paid in 2025 required recipient copies by February 2, 2026, paper filing by March 2, 2026, and electronic filing by March 31, 2026. The 2026 dates appear in the deadline table above.
Two things worth checking before you issue. New vehicle loan interest reporting under section 6050AA does not go on this form: the IRS created Form 1098-VLI (Vehicle Loan Interest Statement) for $600 or more of specified passenger vehicle loan interest. And while the $10 threshold is settled, the $600 trade-or-business figure is what the January 2024 instructions print, and those predate recent law changes. Confirm it against the current Pub. 1099, Guide to Information Returns, before you rely on it.