received 1099-misc for income not received

[pgbigtime]

I received a 1099-MISC from an insurance company that should have gone to my employer and not me.  What do I do to correct it?  The income is theirs, not mine.

[DawnC · Accepted solution]

You can't correct the mistake.  The insurance company has to issue you (and the IRS) a corrected copy of the 1099-MISC.  Their contact information should be on the form (a phone number is required in the upper left corner).  Ideally, you would like to get a new copy of the 1099 with a $0 amount on it.    If you don't report it, but don't get the corrected form, you will have to explain the situation at a later date.  

Without a corrected form, the IRS only has the incorrect information so they will eventually inquire as to why you didn't report the income.  If you don't report it and it turns out you were required to, then you could be charged penalties and interest, so you may want to choose to be proactive and contact the issuer to avoid any future IRS communication (no one wants that) regarding this income.