Key takeaways
- Bank deposit interest comes on Form 1099-INT. Dividends from funds and stocks come on Form 1099-DIV.
- Form 1099-INT box 1 goes on Form 1040 line 2b, and Schedule B is required if the total is over $1,500.
- Form 1099-DIV box 1b is part of box 1a, so never add the two boxes together.
- Box 8 tax-exempt interest goes on line 2a, not line 2b.
- The $10 rule decides whether a form is sent, not whether the income is taxable.
Which form you have
A bank reports interest it pays on deposit accounts on Form 1099-INT. Checking, savings, high-yield savings, certificates of deposit and bank money market deposit accounts all fall here, and the interest sits in box 1.
Dividends from mutual funds, money market funds held at a brokerage, stocks and ETFs are reported on Form 1099-DIV. A brokerage often sends one packet with several forms inside, so read each form title and enter each form once.
Decision rule: a bank payer on a deposit account means Form 1099-INT. A brokerage or fund payer means Form 1099-DIV for dividends, and any Form 1099-INT in the same packet is entered separately.
Form 1099-INT boxes and where each goes
Box 1, interest income, is taxable interest not included in box 3. It goes to Form 1040 line 2b, taxable interest. If the line 2b total is over $1,500, you also attach Schedule B.
Box 3, interest on U.S. Savings Bonds and on Treasury bills, notes and bonds, is reported in its own box. It is added to box 1 in the line 2b total. Some states tax or exempt it differently, so check your state's instructions before assuming an exemption.
Box 8, tax-exempt interest, goes on Form 1040 line 2a, which is labeled Tax-exempt interest. Putting it on line 2b overstates taxable interest.
Worked example, with amounts shown the way the form prints them: box 1 shows 4,200.00 from a high-yield savings account, box 3 shows 310.00 from Treasury bills, and box 8 shows 1,150.00 from a municipal bond. Line 2b is 4,510.00 and line 2a is 1,150.00. Schedule B is required because 4,510.00 is over $1,500.
Form 1099-DIV boxes and where each goes
Box 1a, total ordinary dividends, includes dividends from money market funds and the qualified part. It goes to Form 1040 line 3b, which is labeled Ordinary dividends.
Box 1b, qualified dividends, is the portion of box 1a that qualifies for the reduced capital gains rates. It goes to line 3a, Qualified dividends, and is a subset of box 1a. If box 1a shows 1,000.00 and box 1b shows 850.00, line 3b is 1,000.00, line 3a is 850.00, and 150.00 is ordinary but not qualified. Adding the boxes gives 1,850.00, which is the most common error on these forms.
Box 2a, total capital gain distributions, is long-term capital gain paid by a fund, not a dividend. It is reported with Schedule D, and Form 1040 line 7a is the capital gain or loss line, which says 'Attach Schedule D if required.' Never enter it on line 3b.
The $10 threshold and why a bank may send nothing
The IRS instructions call for Form 1099-INT when boxes 1, 3 or 8 reach at least $10 for a person. For Form 1099-DIV, the test is a dividend valued at $10 or more.
Banks apply the test differently. Chase mails Form 1099-INT only when combined interest across all deposit accounts is $10 or more. Bank of America's FAQ says an account that receives less than $10 gets no form. Under the Chase rule, 7.00 in one account plus 6.00 in another gets a form. Under the account-level wording, neither account does.
The threshold decides whether a form is sent, not whether the income is taxable. Interest of 8.00 with no form is still income, so enter the year-end statement total on line 2b.
When the form arrives
The IRS guide to information returns lists January 31 as the due date to furnish Form 1099-INT and Form 1099-DIV to recipients. It also says that if any date shown falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the due date is the next business day. For 2025 payments, January 31, 2026 was a Saturday, so the date was Monday, February 2, 2026. For 2026 payments, January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so the date is Monday, February 1, 2027.
Chase's expected mailing date is January 31. Bank of America says forms are mailed by the end of January and should arrive by mid-February.
A form still missing in early February is a reason to call the payer, not to wait. Use the year-end statement in the meantime.
Corrected forms and the CORRECTED box
A corrected form repeats the layout with an X in the CORRECTED box. The payer marks that box only when correcting a form it already filed. Use the corrected amounts and set the earlier version aside. Never add the two together.
Decision rule: if the corrected amounts differ from what you used and the return is already filed, amend the return. If it is not filed yet, enter the corrected amounts.
The IRS penalty page lists $130 per return for information returns due in 2026 that are filed more than 30 days late through August 1, and $340 per return after August 1 or if not filed. For returns due in 2025 the later amount was $330.
Bank by bank: Bank of America, Chase and high-yield savings
Bank of America: sign in to Online Banking, choose the deposit account and open Statements and Documents. The bank says you can find the form if you are enrolled in Online Banking and meet the IRS guidelines.
Chase: its $10 test is combined across deposit accounts, so one form may cover several accounts. Compare it with each account's year-end statement.
High-yield savings accounts: many are opened through an app with a different brand from the bank. The payer name on the form is the bank that issued it, so search for that name, not the app name.
Failure mode: an account opened or closed mid-year, where the statements cover only part of the year. Match the box amount to the interest shown for the same tax year. If the gap is more than a few dollars, call the bank and ask for a corrected form.
Telling a 1099 from a bank statement
A Form 1099-INT or 1099-DIV has the form title, numbered boxes, the payer's name and taxpayer identification number, and a recipient section. A statement lists transactions and balances and may show interest earned year to date. It is not a tax form, even when the numbers match.
Enter the box amount, not the statement summary. A gap of a few dollars is usually timing, such as interest credited after the statement cut-off. A larger gap is a question for the bank. If no form arrives, the income is still taxable, so take the year-end total from the bank's records.
What to send the client
Send one written request: “Please send every Form 1099-INT and Form 1099-DIV you received for 2026, including any from a bank, brokerage or fund. For any account with no form, send the year-end statement showing total interest or dividends.” Ask the client to list the payer names so each form matches the right account.
Also ask for accounts closed during the year and for Treasury or municipal bond interest, since those amounts go on different lines.
Tax year and the numbers in this guide
The box definitions and the $10 thresholds come from the IRS instructions for Forms 1099-INT and 1099-DIV, both revised 01/2024. The $1,500 Schedule B threshold comes from the IRS Schedule B page, and the line labels come from the 2025 Form 1040. The January 31 due date and weekend rule come from the IRS guide to information returns, and the penalty amounts come from the IRS penalty page. For a 2026 return, confirm the line numbers and the $1,500 threshold in the 2026 Form 1040 instructions once published.