Form 1099-DIV (REV. January 2024) — 2025 Tax Year Checklist
Purpose and Filing Requirements
Form 1099-DIV reports ordinary dividends, qualified dividends, capital gain distributions, nondividend distributions, and Section 199A dividends paid to recipients during the 2025 calendar year. Payers must file Copy A with Form 1096 and furnish Copies B and 2 to recipients by the applicable deadline.
Section 199A dividend reporting in box 5 applies to qualified REIT dividends paid by real estate investment trusts and section 199A dividends paid by regulated investment companies that received qualified REIT dividends. Recipients use this information to calculate their qualified business income deduction on Form 8995 or Form 8995-A.
Essential Reporting Requirements
Your payer name, complete street address, city, state, ZIP code, country if foreign, and telephone number must match official records. Copy A filed with the IRS must display your unredacted taxpayer identification number.
The IRS requires scannable Copy A forms printed on official IRS forms ordered from the IRS employer forms page. Downloaded versions printed from websites do not meet IRS scanning specifications and will result in processing delays and potential penalties.
Report all ordinary dividends in box 1a from regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, and corporations. Identify the qualified dividend portion in box 1b that qualifies for preferential capital gains tax rates.
Qualified dividends must meet holding period requirements and other eligibility criteria established under Section 1(h)(11). The preferential tax treatment for qualified dividends has been in effect since 2003 and continues without expiration.
This checklist is for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Always review official IRS instructions and consult a qualified professional for guidance.
Capital Gain Distribution Categories
Separate capital gain distributions into the correct reporting boxes to ensure proper tax treatment. Box 2a reports total capital gain distributions and must include all amounts shown in boxes 2b, 2c, 2d, and 2f.
Box 2b reports unrecaptured Section 1250 gain from certain depreciable real property, while box 2c reports Section 1202 gain from qualified small business stock that may qualify for partial exclusion. Box 2d reports collectibles gain taxed at the 28 percent rate, and each category requires separate identification because recipients face different tax rates and treatment for each type of capital gain.
Section 199a Dividend Reporting
Report Section 199A dividends in box 5 when your organization qualifies as a real estate investment trust or regulated investment company. Real estate investment trusts report qualified REIT dividends, which are ordinary REIT dividends excluding capital gain dividends and qualified dividends.
Regulated investment companies report section 199A dividends when they receive qualified REIT dividends and elect to pass them through to shareholders. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made Section 199A permanent, effective July 4, 2025, so this deduction no longer expires after 2025 and continues indefinitely for eligible taxpayers.
Section 897 Reporting For Foreign Recipients
Real estate investment trusts and regulated investment companies must complete boxes 2e and 2f when distributions include Section 897 gains from U.S. real property interests. Box 2e reports Section 897 ordinary dividends included in box 1a, while box 2f reports Section 897 capital gain included in box 2a.
These amounts are treated as effectively connected income under the look-through rule for foreign persons who receive these distributions. The reporting applies regardless of whether the foreign recipient has other U.S. trade or business activities.
Boxes 2e and 2f do not require completion for U.S. individual recipients. Real estate investment trusts and regulated investment companies are the only entities that should complete these specific boxes.
This checklist is for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Always review official IRS instructions and consult a qualified professional for guidance.
State Tax Withholding And Corrections
Complete boxes 14 through 16 for state income tax withholding when applicable. Box 14 requires the abbreviated state name, box 15 requires your state identification number assigned by the individual state tax department, and box 16 reports the state income tax withheld on the payment.
Mark the CORRECTED box when amending a previously filed Form 1099-DIV for the 2025 tax year. Verify that the corrected amount differs materially from the original reporting before reissuing the form to the recipient.
Backup Withholding Procedures
Report backup withholding in box 4 when you did not receive a valid Form W-9 from the recipient or when the recipient failed to provide or certify a correct taxpayer identification number. The backup withholding rate remains 24 percent for 2025 under current tax law.
Apply backup withholding immediately upon failure to certify the taxpayer identification number to avoid compliance gaps during 2025 processing. Verify Form W-9 validity annually and coordinate backup withholding amounts with the recipient's tax return reporting obligations.
FATCA Reporting Obligations
Check box 11 when you are a U.S. payer reporting distributions on Form 1099-DIV as part of satisfying your chapter 4 filing requirement for a U.S. account. Foreign financial institutions must also check box 11 when reporting payments to a U.S. account pursuant to an election under applicable regulations.
Notify recipients separately when FATCA filing requirements affect their international tax position. Cross-reference Form 8938 instructions for recipients with specified foreign financial assets to ensure coordinated reporting across all required forms.
Filing Deadlines And Recordkeeping
Furnish Copy B and Copy 2 to recipients by February 2, 2026. The original deadline of January 31, 2026, falls on a Saturday, so the due date automatically extends to the next business day.
File Copy A with Form 1096 summary transmittal by the prescribed filing deadline based on your filing method. Electronic filers must submit returns by March 31, 2026, while paper filers must submit returns by March 2, 2026, due to the weekend extension.
Retain your payer records for at least three years from the filing date to support any box entries during potential IRS review or recipient inquiries. Cross-check totals against your accounting records and dividend declarations for accuracy before filing.
Accuracy And Verification Standards
Confirm all monetary entries are accurate to the nearest dollar. Foreign tax paid in box 7 must be reported in U.S. dollars and coordinated with box 8 country identification.
Regulated investment companies should leave box 8 blank under special reporting instructions that eliminate country-by-country reporting requirements. A blank box 8 indicates a regulated investment company-reported foreign tax rather than a payer error or omission.
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This checklist is for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Always review official IRS instructions and consult a qualified professional for guidance.
