I filed my taxes and have already received my refund. However, I received form 1099-s in the amount of $1,785.
The power company paid me that to put a new pole and easement on my property. Do I need to amend my return for this little amount? Thanks
No, you do not need to file an amended tax return because you will not owe tax for that, but you may get a letter from the IRS asking about it.
When you are paid for an easement, you do not need to claim it as income, but you must reduce the basis in the property.
That means if you paid 100,000 for the property, your basis is 100,000. If you sell for 150,000 you would have a 50,000 gain. (of course if it's your home you might not need to claim the gain) but that is how the numbers would work.
Since the Power Company paid you 1,785, you subtract that from your basis.
So in the example above, your new basis would be 100,000 - 1,785 = 98,215
If you sold for 150,000, your gain would be 51,785.
Again, this is just to illustrate how the easement payment affects your basis.
How the sale of your house would be taxed is a whole different question.
You need to understand this in order to explain it to the IRS if they ask.
You say the payment was for an easement, so you adjusted the basis of the property.
sorry the numbers went over my head. I own my house if that makes a difference
No, it doesn't change the information provided by @KrisD15. The answer is still correct. Just keep the information and when, if ever, you do sell your house, you'll subtract that from your home's basis.