Received 1099 incorrectly for income I didn't keep

[mbuebel]

My wife does some consulting work for a friend, who pays her. In the past she used to keep the money, but in 2016 she started giving all the income to her employer (a huge university). The checks were written to both my wife and the University. Unfortunately there was some confusion and the woman's accountant sent my wife a 1099-MISC. Clearly a pain in the butt, but who needs to do the work to fix this?

[NancyG · Accepted solution]

First, check the 1099-Misc to verify whose taxpayer id number was used - your wife's social security number or the University's taxpayer identification number.

If your wife's social security number is used, she should contact her friend's accountant. Your wife may also want to let her employer know what is happening.

Since that checks were paid jointly, explain the error and request corrected 1099-Misc be issued.  The accountant will need a contact at the University to get the necessary information to complete the 1099-Misc.