Who must file Form 1099-S
File Form 1099-S for a sale or exchange of real estate: land, permanent structures, condominium units, stock in a cooperative housing corporation, and non-contingent interests in standing timber. The person responsible for closing the transaction (the settlement agent on the closing statement) files; if there is none, the mortgage lender, the transferor's broker, the transferee's broker, or the transferee, in that order. Timber royalties under a pay-as-cut contract are also reported here.
Beginning in tax year 2026, digital assets received in exchange for real estate are reported in box 2c.
Threshold: Generally $600, gross proceeds of $600 or more in most cases; certain royalty payments; a sale of a principal residence for $250,000 or less ($500,000 married) may be excepted on the seller's written certification.
What is reported, box by box
| Box | What it reports | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Date of closing | |
| 2a to 2c | Total gross proceeds, cash proceeds, digital asset proceeds | Gross proceeds before commissions; 2c added for 2026. |
| 3 | Address or legal description | |
| 4 | Buyer's part of real estate tax | Checkbox and amount if the transferor received or will receive property or services as consideration. |
| 5 | Reserved | |
| 6 | Transferor received property or services | Checkbox. |
| 7 | Transferor is a foreign person | Checkbox; FIRPTA withholding on Form 8288 is separate. |
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-S
- Sale or exchange of a principal residence for $250,000 or less ($500,000 for married sellers) where the seller furnishes the written certification in Regulations 1.6045-4(c)(2)(i).
- Transferors that are corporations, governments, or volume transferors under the exemption, and certain transfers in full or partial satisfaction of a debt (1099-A or 1099-C instead).
- Gifts, bequests, financing and refinancing, and de minimis transfers under $600.
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 | Monday, February 15, 2027 |
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
Real estate transactions under section 6045(e) are excluded from backup withholding and are not eligible for the IRS TIN Matching program. The seller's TIN is still required: the settlement agent must solicit it (a Form W-9 or the certification in the regulations), and the seller must furnish it under penalty. An incorrect or missing TIN on a 1099-S carries the same IRC 6721 penalty as any other return, defended the same way, by the solicitation record.
Foreign sellers are the separate FIRPTA question: the buyer withholds under section 1445 and files Forms 8288 and 8288-A, while the 1099-S still reports the sale with box 7 checked.
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-S:
- Married sellers. One 1099-S to the first-listed spouse, or two if they request separate reporting; the name control comes from the first name line.
- Trusts and estates as sellers. The trustee's or executor's name is not the transferor's name; use the trust or estate name and EIN (or the grantor's SSN for a grantor trust reporting under the owner).
- LLCs holding title. A single-member LLC that has not elected corporate status reports under the owner's name and TIN.
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-S 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-S 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-S
Is the seller's Social Security number required at closing?
Yes. The settlement agent must request it and the seller must provide it; refusal exposes the seller to a penalty and the agent must still file with the TIN blank.
Why is the recipient copy due February 15?
Section 6045 statements have the later date. The IRS copy is still due February 28 on paper or March 31 electronically.
Can we file the 1099-S through the Combined Federal/State program?
No; 1099-S is not a CF/SF form. States that want it require direct filing.
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-LTC · 1099-MISC · 1099-NEC · 1099-OID · 1099-PATR · 1099-Q · 1099-QA · 1099-R · 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-S (Rev. December 2026); Pub 1099 (2026) parts M and N; IRC 6045(e); Regulations 1.6045-4. Threshold amounts are indexed for inflation from calendar year 2027; check IRS.gov/InflationAdjustment for the current year.