What is a 1099S Form?

What is a 1099S Form? Who do I get it from?

Q: What is a 1099S form? I just sold my house and moved into a 55+ community. The community had an entrance fee. And, I now pay rent on my apartment every month. I want to be prepared for filing my 2024 taxes. My understanding is I need a 1099S form for my house sale. I’ve asked my real estate agent where I get this document and he didn’t know. I did an online search and discovered that the closing agent would have the form. Who is the closing agent? Is it the title company?

1099S Form is a tax form

A: You’re right in that there is a form 1099S and that a home seller might expect to receive that form upon the property’s sale. The purpose of the 1099S form is to notify the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the sale. The form details the seller’s information, including social security number, sales price for the home and the date of the sale.

But the vast number of home sellers will not receive a 1099S form when they sell their primary residence. For starters, if you sell your primary residence for less than $250,000 (or $500,000 if you are married), the settlement agent doesn’t need to report the sale to the IRS, so you won’t get a form.

Sell Without Paying Capital Gains Tax?

Why? Current tax law. When you sell your primary residence, the IRS allows you to exclude from tax the first $250,000 (or $500,000 if you are married) of profit. Given these numbers, the 1099S isn’t given to sellers in certain cases if:

They certify to the settlement agent that they are selling their primary residence for less than the $250,000 (or $500,000)
The home was used solely for residential purposes
They lived in the home for two out of the last five years
They didn’t take the tax exclusion on another home in the last two years.

However, if you are selling a higher priced home, used part of the home for business purposes, or are selling a home that also has a rental unit that is part of it, the settlement agent should issue you a 1099S on the sale of the home.

Calculating Capital Gains

Who provides the form? In states where title companies close the real estate transaction, the title company will give you the form at the time of the sale or they’ll mail you the form after the sale. In states where the settlement agent is a closing attorney, the closing attorney should issue the form. Basically, the person or entity that handles the closing and disburses the money to the seller would issue the 1099S.

If you believe you should have been issued a form, call the title or settlement company and speak to the person who helped you close the deal.