If this is your daughter's only (taxable) income for 2016, then you're in luck, because she (probably) doesn't need to report it, or file an income tax return.
Specifically, the IRS rules for single dependents, under age 65, don't require a person to file a tax return if:
- their unearned income (e.g. prize money) was under $1,050;
- or their earned income (wages and self-employment) was under $6,300;
- or their gross income was less than the larger of two numbers: $1,050, or earned income (up to $5,950) plus $350.
You can confirm these figures for yourself by reviewing the IRS "Chart B" (for children and dependents) as found on Page 9 of the 2016 Form 1040 instructions here:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdfAll this is a formal way of saying that you likely don't need to really do anything about the Form 1099-MISC your daughter received, other than allow her to enjoy (or save) the prize money.
If she were to have other income, though, that puts her over the above limits, then she would have to file a tax return.
One last item of note here is that if she had any federal (or state) income taxes withheld from her prize -- which you can confirm by looking at Boxes 4 and 16 on Form 1099-MISC -- then the only way for her to "reclaim" that money would be to file her own tax return and request a tax refund from the government. This is probably unlikely, but it will only take a moment to check and make certain.
Thank you for asking this important question.
