Here's how to enter a 1099-MISC for tribal per capita payments in TurboTax. By following these steps the income will appear on Form 1040 line 21 with the description "Indian Tribal Distrib." It's very important that it be reported with this exact description in order to avoid delaying the processing of your tax return and possibly getting a notice from the IRS. The IRS computers recognize this description and will handle the income properly.
- Click the Federal Taxes tab.
- Click Wages & Income.
- Click "I'll choose what I work on" or "Jump to a full list."
- On the screen "Your 2016 Income Summary," scroll down to the section "1099-MISC and Other Common Income." Click the Start button for "Income from Form 1099-MISC."
- On the screen that says "Did you get a 1099-MISC?" click Yes.
- On the next screen, enter the information from the Form 1099-MISC that you received. The amount of the payment should be in box 3. After you enter the 1099-MISC information, click Continue.
- The next screen asks you to enter a description of the reason for the 1099-MISC. It doesn't matter what you enter. I suggest "Tribal per capita distribution."
- The next screen asks "Does one of these uncommon situations apply?" Select "This was a tribal member gaming payment" and click Continue. I know you said it's not from gaming, but select this option. It will not show up as tribal gaming on your tax return.
- The next screen asks whether you have another 1099-MISC. If you don't, select No and click Continue.
- This takes you to the 1099-MISC Summary. If you have no other 1099-MISC forms to add, click Done.
