I signed up for a Chase Marriott Boundless credit card in 2023 that offered three Marriott Certificates valued at up to 50,000 Marriott Points each in exchange for spending $3,000 on the card in the first three months. Last week, I received a 1099-MISC for about $460, which appears to be Chase's established value for those certificates. I have two questions.
1) My understanding is that those points certificates should NOT be taxable because they were in exchange for spending $3K, and thus are viewed by the IRS as a rebate on that $3K in purchases rather than as income -- just like a straight points bonus or a cash back bonus contingent on spending a certain amount of money on the credit card. I understand that free points/bonuses that are NOT for consideration (ie just for opening the account, or referral bonuses) are taxable, but that is not my situation: this was in exchange for spend. Is this correct? If so, I'd love a source saying it shouldn't be taxable; and if not, I'd love to know how/why I'm wrong.
2) If my understanding is correct, how should I proceed? The only thing I can think to do to avoid paying tax on this (non)income would be to declare it as normal when I file, but then add a line in Other Income as a negative of the same amount shown on the 1099-MISC, with an explanation (ie that it's a rebate). Would that satisfy the IRS, and if so, how do I do this in TurboTax? Is there a better way?
Thanks all.
