Update 2/4/19: After looking over more datapoints it seems that Chase is only issuing 1099 forms if cardholders received $600 or more in referrals. Some people originally said they were issued forms for referrals under $600 but after talking with them they received under $600 on a specific card, but more than $600 in total. If anybody received a 1099 form and received under $600/60,000 points in referrals in total then please let us know.
A few days ago we reported that American Express was sending out 1099 forms for referral bonuses. It seems like they aren’t the only issuer doing this, with readers reporting also receiving 1099 forms from Chase for referral bonuses.
Chase is valuing all points at 1¢ for the purposes of these forms. Note: Only referral bonuses are getting 1099s, not signup bonuses or any other sort of bonus, regardless of how it was redeemed. These forms are being sent out even if you did not receive $600 worth of referrals ($600 is the threshold where financial institutions are required to send out the form, but they can send out forms if the amount is under this and you’re supposed to self report anyway).
This isn’t the first time Chase has done this, in 2017 they also sent out a 1099 only to later retract it. The fact they have sent out this form again and the fact American Express has done the same leads me to believe they have received a private letter ruling from the IRS.
Related:
- Follow-Up: Chase Sending Out 1099 for Other Bonuses Too, e.g. Paperless & Retention Bonuses; Also Mistakenly Reporting 500 Points as $500(!)
- Follow-Up: Chase To Send Out Corrected 1099 Forms
- Do Banks Send 1099s for Referral Bonuses?
- Which Banks Send Out 1099s for Account Bonuses?
- American Express Sends Out 1099s for Referral Bonuses – Hilton @ .67 CPP, Everything Else @ 1 CPP
I have received a 1099 form for $800. I only did one referral and I am trying to find out how they calculated the income but they refer to my tax advisor who doesn´t have any idea, obviously.
I remember receiving a 1099 even if I did not have more than 1 referral (20k points) in 2019. The last year I did not refer any. I am going to refer another one this year. Hoping to not get another 1099 in year 2021 for me…
It seems like things have kinda calmed down from a tax filing perspective, at least for those people who caught these changes, but I also wonder if it’s going to have some impact on the robustness of these plans moving forward. I feel like a lot of people might make an effort to stay below the $600 1099 filing threshhold this year for these bonuses.
Just waiting, Chase has stated that will issue a correction: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-to-send-out-corrected-1099-forms/
I received another 1099 MISC, this time for $100. Again, no idea why. It was for a Chase Sapphire Preferred which I opened in 2017 and closed several months before the annual fee was scheduled to be posted. I received the 50K point bonus after $4k spend and put it in my sock drawer. The card no longer appears on my Chase dashboard so I will need to ask them how to access it, but I am dead certain I never received any cash bonus.
I did come across the Points Guy post (dated earlier this month) and he reported that Chase has been made aware of the problem and that they would be issuing revised 1099’s.
Are Chase 1099’s only getting sent for personal cards? I received 60k in UR for Ink Preferred referrals, but haven’t received a 1099
What a mess. I rceived a 1099 MISC from Chase yesterday reporting “other income” of $500. The identified account was my Chase Freedom Unlimited, where I’ve gotten nothing but 1.5 points per dollar spent. I’ve spent at most several thou on this account per year, since I save my big spending (travel and dining) on Reserve. I’ve never done referrals, and never received a sign up bonus (I downgraded to this card from Sapphire Preferred about 3 years ago).
Called Chase Customer Service today and got the runaround talking to about 6 reps who knew absolutely nothing. On the final leg, I was told to call their 1099 department, which conveniently was already closed for the day. (I had already spoken with a 1099 rep who didn’t appear to know anything about the tax form). Not one of the 3 Customer Service reps I spoke with offered to open a dispute for me.
I decided to go another route and filed an online complaint with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. It was surprisingly easy, and the complaint has already been forwarded to Chase.
I received a form but it was not for referral. Instead, it was for the $600 sign up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Oddly, it categorized my bonus in a weird way. It assigned $500 to my Chase Freedom card, which was not opened this year. And $105 ($5 for signing up for paperless statements most likely) to my Chase Sapphire Preferred. It does add up to $600 (or $605 due to the paperless bonus), which would be the sign up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. However, since it seems it was wrongly assigned, does this tax form still count? Can I get this dismissed? (This was neither referral bonus, and the amounts were wrongly assigned)
Just to reiterate, I did not do any referrals.
According to another comment, you should call Chase and ask for the ‘1099 department’, only available during the day. They’d be the ones to make corrections.
Received my 1099 misc today. Had three items. One Hyatt referral I can confirm. One $15 dollar CFU other income that certainly wasn’t a referral, and a $500 other income from CF that sat in the sock drawer until fourth quarter bonuses. No idea what the $15 or $500 are from. There is another report in the Reddit thread of a similar situation. The guess is the $5 statement credit chase offered for paperless statements earlier in the year. To clarify, I had one referral in 2018 and had a 1099 misc for 615.
$500 for the biz checking account bonus? Because that account has been closed?
Hey DoC/Chuck, just wanted to throw an interesting DP in here. I got my 1099 from Chase today and even though I had only 4 referrals (2 for CSR, 2 for CF), they have my income listed as $910.85.
I called Chase and the rep looking into it couldn’t figure it out. He referred me to their 1099 department which was closed by the time I called.
His hypothesis (and mine) is that they somehow coded the 500 UR paperless bonus that I received as $500, and that the rest of the “income” is for the Bonus UR at Best Buy promo in 2018.
I’ll be following up with them tomorrow, but if they can’t revise this thing, I better see the imaginary UR points they are reporting to the IRS (plus some to cover the 2019 liability since they say they report “courtesy points”) or I am gonna be a very unhappy camper.