Who must file Form 1099-LTC
File Form 1099-LTC if you paid long-term care benefits under a long-term care insurance contract, including a contract that qualifies under section 7702B, or accelerated death benefits under a life insurance contract or in a viatical settlement, to or on behalf of an insured. Payers include insurance companies, governmental units and viatical settlement providers. The statement goes to the policyholder (the recipient on the form) and a copy to the insured when they differ.
Whether a benefit is excludable from the insured's income depends on the chronically or terminally ill certification and the per diem limit; the form captures the facts (per diem versus reimbursement, qualified contract, certification) that the recipient needs for Form 8853.
Threshold: All amounts, every payment of long-term care benefits (per diem or reimbursement) or accelerated death benefits.
What is reported, box by box
| Box | What it reports | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gross long-term care benefits paid | Including amounts paid to third parties on the insured's behalf. |
| 2 | Accelerated death benefits paid | |
| 3 | Per diem or reimbursed amount | Checkbox: whether box 1 was paid on a per diem (indemnity) or reimbursement basis. |
| 4 | Qualified contract | Optional checkbox for a contract that meets section 7702B. |
| 5 | Chronically ill or terminally ill | Checkbox, with the date certified. |
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-LTC
- Benefits under a contract that is not a long-term care insurance contract and death benefits that are not accelerated (those are 1099-R or not reportable).
- Reimbursements to a provider that the payer treats as claim payments to the provider are still reported to the policyholder, not to the provider.
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 | January 31 | Monday, February 1, 2027 (January 31 is a Sunday) |
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
Long-term care benefits are excluded from backup withholding under section 3406(b) and the form is not eligible for the IRS TIN Matching program. Two TINs matter: the policyholder's and the insured's. The insured is frequently elderly, the policy decades old, and the policyholder may be a spouse or child; a certification and claim file that captures both names as the SSA holds them prevents the mismatch.
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-LTC:
- Policyholder versus insured. The recipient boxes carry the policyholder; the insured's name and TIN go in their own area. Reversing them is a name/TIN mismatch on the IRS side.
- Deceased insureds. Accelerated death benefits paid before death are reported to the policyholder; benefits paid after death are life insurance proceeds, not 1099-LTC amounts.
- Trust-owned policies report the trust as policyholder under its EIN.
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-LTC 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.
Corrections and state copies
A wrong amount, code or checkbox is a Type 1 correction: one corrected return with the CORRECTED box checked. A wrong or missing payee TIN, a wrong payee name, or the wrong form type is a Type 2 correction: a zeroed-out copy of the original plus a new original, in that order. 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-LTC 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-LTC
Do we report benefits paid directly to the nursing home?
Yes, as gross benefits paid on behalf of the insured, on the policyholder's 1099-LTC.
Is there a threshold?
No; all amounts are reported.
Is 1099-LTC 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-LS · 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-SA · 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-LTC (Rev. April 2025); Pub 1099 (2026); IRC 6050Q, 7702B, 101(g). Threshold amounts are indexed for inflation from calendar year 2027; check IRS.gov/InflationAdjustment for the current year.