VOIDPaper only: marks a form on a sheet that should be ignored. It is not a correction; a filed return is undone with a corrected return.How corrections workCORRECTEDCheck it whenYou correct a Form 1099-LS you already filed or furnished.Watch forIf the reportable policy sale is rescinded, file a corrected Form 1099-LS, and furnish corrected statements to the payment recipient and issuer, within 15 calendar days of receiving notice of the rescission.Type 1 vs Type 2 correctionsAcquirer's nameWhat goes hereYou, the acquirer of an interest in a life insurance contract in a reportable policy sale: your name, address, telephone number and TIN.Watch forYou may not have to file if the interest came to you as a gift, you meet an exception in Treas. Reg. 1.6050Y-2(f) (for example, a section 1035 exchange), or another acquirer or a reporting contractor reports for you under the unified reporting rules.Check the filer blockBox 1: Amount paid to payment recipientWhat goes hereThe total amount paid to this payment recipient in the reportable policy sale.ThresholdAny amount to a seller. A person other than the seller, such as a broker that keeps part of the consideration, is not a payment recipient if it received less than $600 in total for the sale.Watch forReporting the amount is optional on Copy C, the issuer's copy.Click to open the row in the box tableBox 2: Date of saleWhat goes hereThe date of the reportable policy sale.Watch forCopy B is due to the payment recipient by February 15 of the next year. Copy C is due to the issuer by January 15, or earlier as Treas. Reg. 1.6050Y-2(d)(2) requires.Click to open the row in the box tableCalendar yearThe year the payment was made, not the year you file. The 2026 forms cover payments in 2026 and are filed in 2027.The 2027 calendarAcquirer's TINThe EIN the returns are filed under; it must match the filer name on the first line. A sole proprietor may use an SSN, with the owner's name first.Check the filer blockPayment recipient's TINSSN, ITIN or EIN from the W-9, nine digits. Truncation (XXX-XX-1234) is allowed on the payee copy only, never on Copy A. A wrong or missing TIN is the usual CP2100 line.Match it before you filePayment recipient's nameWhat goes hereThe payment recipient: the seller, or a broker or other intermediary that kept part of the cash or other consideration in the sale.Watch forFile a separate Form 1099-LS for each payment recipient for each interest you acquired.Which name goes firstInformation contactWhat goes hereThe name, address and telephone number of your information contact.Required whenThe contact is different from the acquirer. It must give direct access to a person who can answer questions about this return. If blank, the recipient uses the acquirer's details.Payment recipient's street addressWhere the recipient copy is mailed. From the W-9 line 5; the IRS does not match it, but an undeliverable copy is a furnishing failure.Payment recipient's city or townCity of the mailing address, from the W-9 line 6.Hover over a box for what goes in it; click to open its row in the table below. On a touch screen, tap the box to jump to the row.
Who must file Form 1099-LS
File Form 1099-LS if you are the acquirer of any interest in a life insurance contract, directly or indirectly, in a reportable policy sale under section 101(a)(3): an acquisition where the acquirer has no substantial family, business or financial relationship with the insured apart from the acquirer's interest in the contract. File a separate form for each payment recipient (the seller, and any other person paid in the sale). A copy goes to the issuer of the contract, which triggers the issuer's Form 1099-SB. Exceptions in the regulations cover gratuitous transfers, certain indirect acquisitions, and unified reporting by one acquirer on behalf of others.
Timing is tighter than most forms: the statement to the payment recipient is due February 15 of the following year, and the copy to the issuer by January 15 or, if earlier, 20 days after the sale or 5 days after the state rescission period ends. If the sale is rescinded, file a corrected 1099-LS within 15 calendar days of receiving notice.
Threshold: All amounts, every payment to a seller in a reportable policy sale; payments of less than $600 in aggregate to a payment recipient other than the seller may be excepted (Regulations 1.6050Y-2(f)(2)).
What is reported, box by box
| Box | What it reports | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amount paid to payment recipient | All amounts to a seller; a broker or intermediary that is not the seller is not a payment recipient below $600 in total. The total paid to the payment recipient in the reportable policy sale. Optional on Copy C to the issuer. |
| 2 | Date of sale | The date of the reportable policy sale. Copy B goes to the payment recipient by February 15 of the next year; Copy C to the issuer by January 15 or earlier. If the sale is rescinded, correct the return and statements within 15 calendar days of the notice. |
| Issuer's name and policy number | The insurance company administering the contract (collecting premiums and paying death benefits) and the policy number it assigned. The issuer uses Copy C to file 1099-SB. Copy C is required only for a direct acquisition, on the form for the seller. | |
| Acquirer's information contact | Only if different from the acquirer: the name, address and telephone number of a contact who gives direct access to a person who can answer questions about the return. If blank, the acquirer's own details apply. |
Box titles follow the current revision of the form. The IRS reads the payer and recipient name, TIN, address, account number and the money boxes; the state boxes are for the state copy only.
Payments that are not reported on Form 1099-LS
- Acquisitions where the acquirer has a substantial family, business or financial relationship with the insured (not a reportable policy sale).
- Interests acquired gratuitously, and indirect acquisitions covered by an exception in Regulations 1.6050Y-2.
- Payments under $600 in aggregate to a payment recipient other than the seller, and reporting assumed by another acquirer under the unified reporting rules.
Due dates and extensions
| Copy | Due | For 2026 returns |
|---|---|---|
| To the IRS, paper | February 28 | Monday, March 1, 2027 (February 28 is a Sunday) |
| To the IRS, electronic | March 31 | Wednesday, March 31, 2027 |
| To the recipient | February 15 | Tuesday, February 16, 2027 (February 15 is Presidents' Day) |
An automatic 30-day extension is available on Form 8809, filed by the due date on paper or through IRIS; a second 30 days requires a hardship showing. Recipient statements can be extended 30 days on Form 15397, online or by fax only. 10 or more information returns of any type in aggregate must be e-filed (T.D. 9972); IRIS is the only IRS intake system from filing season 2027, FIRE having been retired. A payer who e-files the originals must e-file the corrections.
For 2026 forms filed in 2027: January 31 falls on a Sunday, so that deadline moves to Monday, February 1, 2027; February 28 also falls on a Sunday, so the paper deadline moves to Monday, March 1, 2027. March 31 (electronic) and March 15 are weekdays. February 28 does not become February 29 in a leap year. The compliance calendar has every date with the weekend shifts applied.
Withholding and TIN matching
Life settlement proceeds are not backup-withholdable payments and the form is outside the IRS TIN Matching program. The seller's TIN is collected on the purchase agreement or a Form W-9 and is the seller's own (or the estate's or trust's EIN when a fiduciary sells); the issuer relies on the 1099-LS data to prepare its 1099-SB, so an error here propagates to a second return.
Name and TIN errors on this form
Every information return is matched by the IRS on the first four characters of the payee's name (the name control) against the TIN. A mismatch produces a CP2100 line the following autumn and, unless the solicitation record is in order, a 972CG penalty the year after: $340 per return for 2026 forms filed in 2027 that are late or wrong, $690 for intentional disregard, with annual maximums of $4,191,500 ($1,397,000 for small filers) under Rev. Proc. 2025-32. The errors that recur on Form 1099-LS:
- Trust-owned policies. Most sold policies sit in an irrevocable life insurance trust; the seller is the trust, under its EIN and legal name, not the grantor or the trustee personally.
- Multiple payment recipients. Brokers and providers paid from the sale proceeds each get a 1099-LS under their own TIN when the $600 exception does not apply.
- Foreign sellers. A seller documented as a foreign beneficial owner on a W-8 may fall under the foreign-person exception in the regulations.
The name control calculator shows what the IRS will derive from a name line, and the CP2100 guide covers what to do when the notice arrives.
Recipient statements and substitutes
The recipient statement for Form 1099-LS need not be a copy of the official form: a substitute may be combined with other account statements or reports, provided every required item is numbered and titled as on the official form, the tax year, form number and form name appear together, the recipient instructions are included, and, for the forms Pub 1099 lists, a telephone number with direct access to someone who can answer questions is shown. Publication 1179 (Rev. Proc. 2026-18) has the specifications; logos, slogans and advertising are not permitted on the statement itself. Statements may be furnished electronically only to a recipient who has affirmatively consented in a way that shows they can access the format, after the disclosures in Pub 1099 part M, and must stay posted through October 15. Copy B may show a truncated TIN (xxx-xx-1234); the IRS copy never may. The consent rules for furnishing statements electronically are under review: Notice 2026-4 asked for comments (due May 23, 2026) on whether the broker rules, and then the rules for every other payee statement, should change.
Corrections and state copies
A wrong amount, code or checkbox is a Type 1 correction: one corrected return with the CORRECTED box checked. The wrong form type is a Type 2 correction: a zeroed-out copy of the original plus a new original, in that order. A wrong or missing payee TIN or name is also Type 2 on paper, but IRIS corrects it in one step on the original record (Publication 5717). Publication 1099 also says you are not required to file a correction for a missing or incorrect TIN if you meet the reasonable-cause standard, only to use the right TIN on the next return, although the IRS encourages the correction. Details and the paper error charts are on the 1099 corrections page.
Form 1099-LS is not in the Combined Federal/State Filing program, so any state that requires it must receive it directly. Requirements by state are on the state pages.
Questions people ask about Form 1099-LS
What is a reportable policy sale?
An acquisition of an interest in a life insurance contract by someone with no substantial family, business or financial relationship with the insured, other than the interest itself. Section 101(a)(3) and Regulations 1.6050Y-1 define it.
Why does the issuer get a copy?
The 1099-LS notifies the issuer of the sale and starts its obligation to file Form 1099-SB reporting the seller's investment in the contract.
Is 1099-LS in the Combined Federal/State program?
No.
Other federal forms
1042-S · 1097-BTC · 1098 · 1098-C · 1098-E · 1098-F · 1098-Q · 1098-T · 1098-VLI · 1099-A · 1099-B · 1099-C · 1099-CAP · 1099-DIV · 1099-G · 1099-INT · 1099-K · 1099-LPS · 1099-LTC · 1099-MISC · 1099-NEC · 1099-OID · 1099-PATR · 1099-Q · 1099-QA · 1099-R · 1099-S · 1099-SA · 1099-SB · 3921 · 3922 · 5498 · 5498-ESA · 5498-QA · 5498-SA · 5498-TA · W-2G · 1099-DA · Comparison table
Sources: IRS Publication 1099 (2026), General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, which replaced the separate General Instructions starting with tax year 2026; Instructions for Form 1099-LS (Rev. April 2025); Pub 1099 (2026); IRC 6050Y(a)IRC 6050YInternal Revenue Code, Cornell LII, 101(a)(3); Regulations 1.6050Y-1 and 1.6050Y-2. Threshold amounts are indexed for inflation from calendar year 2027; check IRS.gov/InflationAdjustment for the current year.