Which governs year of income-date of check or date received?

[rdfarnsworth]

Form 1099-Misc includes compensation for a check issued by the Payer dated 12/26/17 but was received by me 1/19/18. 2017 income or 2018?

[kerriP · Accepted solution]

In the case of the end-of-year mailing of payments that didn't arrive in your hand until the following year, despite the date on the check, you didn't constructively receive the money until the following year. So it's taxable income, in most cases, in the year you got the check.

Keep in mind, the person who sent you the 1099 is probably going to provide  the 1099 to the IRS.  But if you have good records of the date you received the money, you will have no problems.  

[mbasbury920]

How do I handle that in TurboTax? I have a 1099 that includes the money they sent in late December but I did not have it until 2019. I assume I must enter the amount on the 1099 as the form shows it, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do with the differing amount. Thank you.

[cyfgrl]

I have this same situation as mbasbury920. What am I supposed to do? I found 3 other similar questions and it seems there's slightly different ways to go about it. What is the recommended way?

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4227010-i-received-a-check-dated-jan-2-2018-i-intended-for-this-to...>

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4189337-a-client-s-1099-includes-a-check-from-2017-we-didn-t-recei...> - In case there's no follow-up, this seems to be the most straight forward solution by a Turbotax Pro.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3517996-i-received-a-1099-misc-it-includes-payment-of-an-invoice-f...>

[mbasbury920]

Hi. I spoke with an accountant and was told to report the 1099 as it states and then use a miscellaneous expense - something like "1099 income not received in 2018" and put that amount down for the expense. Next year, you will need to include it as income (but you would not add that to the same client's 1099; it would just be a separate income amount.