See this help article for instructions for entering a legal settlement in TurboTax. If only part of the settlement is taxable as explained below, enter the entire amount of the 1099 and then make a separate entry of a negative amount and name it "nontaxable portion of settlement".
Lawsuit settlements are normally reported to the claimant on a Form 1099-MISC, with the taxable amount or the entire amount showing in Box 1, not Box 10. You might try contacting the law firm to see if they will reissue the document.
According to the Instructions for Form 1099-MISC, the payer should report in box 10 payments that:
- Are made to an attorney in the course of your (the payer's) trade or business in connection with legal services, but not for the attorney’s services, for example, as in a settlement agreement;
- Total $600 or more; and
- Are not reportable by you (the payer) in box 1 of Form 1099-NEC.
The amount in Box 10 is intended to be transferred to a Schedule C. This would not be correct for the situation you described.
Whether and how much of the amount of a legal settlement is taxable depends on the type of settlement proceeds you received and what they represented. Since you received a Form 1099, it should be accounted for on your tax return, as the IRS information return matching program will be looking for it.
Check the terms of the legal settlement. If you received punitive damages, this would be taxable income.
Property settlements that compensate for a loss in value of your property that are less than the adjusted basis of your property are not taxable and generally do not need to be reported on your tax return. However, you must reduce your basis in the property by the amount of the settlement. If the property settlement exceeds your adjusted basis in the property, the excess is income.
See IRS Publication 4345 for more information about legal settlements.
Legal fees related to personal issues typically can't be included in your itemized deductions under current law. See this tax tips article for more information.
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
