Beginning in 2011, landlords will be required to issue 1099’s to any service provider who receives $600 or more for work relating to the rental property.
The 1099 forms will need to be submitted to the service provider, and will also be sent to the IRS.
This means that landlords will need to develop a system for collecting tax identification information, legal names and addresses for contractor they do business with.
The new provision is part of the Small Business Jobs Act that was passed two months ago, and signals a change over existing rules that used to apply only to landlords who rented as a business or trade. Now, anyone who receives rental income is required to disburse 1099’s. The rules will also include vacation home rentals.
It is estimated that any one landlord will need to prepare a number of these 1099’s – a dozen or so on average, at the end of each tax season or pay to have a tax preparer do the work. Industry experts fear the requirement will place a financial burden on small landlords, which is an irony given the intention of the jobs law was to help small businesses.
A second tax reporting provision is set to begin in 2012. In this case, landlords will be required to prepare 1099’s on both services and goods purchased. This requirement, tucked into the health reform law, is the more controversial and attempts have already been made to repeal it. Prior IRS regulations appears to exempt credit card purchases, which are already tracked by banks and card servicers.
The IRS is currently developing regulations to aid taxpayers in compliance with both provisions, but the agency is still in the preliminary stages of rule-making, where it is evaluating public comments to the proposed changes.
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws
