Certain Government Payments

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Instructions for Form 1099-G

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2008

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Instructions for Form
1099-G
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

Reminder
In addition to these specific instructions, you should also use the
2008 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.
Those general instructions include information about the following
topics.
• Backup withholding.
• Electronic reporting requirements.
• Penalties.
• Who must file (nominee/middleman).
• When and where to file.
• Taxpayer identification numbers.
• Statements to recipients.
• Corrected and void returns.
• Other general topics.
You can get the general instructions from the IRS website at
www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).

Specific Instructions for Form 1099-G
File Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments, if as a unit of a
federal, state, or local government, you made payments of
unemployment compensation; state or local income tax refunds,
credits, or offsets; alternative trade adjustment assistance (ATAA)
payments; taxable grants; or agricultural payments. The officer or
employee of the government unit having control of the payments (or
the designated officer or employee) must file Form 1099-G.

unincorporated business are taxes on gain or profit rather than on
gross receipts. Therefore, they are income taxes, and any refund,
credit, or offset of $10 or more of these taxes is reportable on Form
1099-G. In the case of the dividends tax and the capital gains tax, if
you determine that the recipient did not itemize deductions, as
explained above, you are not required to furnish a Form 1099-G or
substitute statement to the recipient. However, in the case of the
tax on unincorporated businesses, you must furnish a Form 1099-G
or substitute statement to the recipient in all cases, as this is a tax
that applies exclusively to income from a trade or business. See
Box 8. Trade or Business Income (Checkbox), below and Rev. Rul.
86-140, 1986-2 C.B. 195.
If you pay interest of $600 or more on the refund, you must file
Form 1099-INT, Interest Income, and furnish a statement to the
recipient. For interest payments of less than $600, you may choose
to enter the amount with an appropriate designation such as
“Interest Income” in the blank box on Copy B of the Form 1099-G.

Box 3. Box 2 Amount Is For Tax Year
No entry is required in box 3 if the refund, credit, or offset is for the
2007 tax year. If it is for any other tax year, enter the year for which
the refund, credit, or offset was made. Also, if the refunds, credits,
or offsets are for more than 1 tax year, report the amount for each
year on a separate Form 1099-G. Use the format “YYYY” to make
the entry in this box. For example, enter 2006, not ’06.

Box 4. Federal Income Tax Withheld

If you are required to file Form 1099-G, you must provide a
statement to the recipient. Furnish a copy of Form 1099-G or an
acceptable substitute statement to each recipient, except as
explained below under Box 2. State or Local Income Tax Refunds,
Credits, or Offsets. Also, see part M in the 2008 General
Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Backup withholding. Enter backup withholding at a 28% rate on
payments required to be reported in box 6 or 7. For example, if a
recipient does not furnish its taxpayer identification number (TIN) to
you, you must backup withhold.
Voluntary withholding. Enter any voluntary federal withholding
on unemployment compensation, Commodity Credit Corporation
loans, and certain crop disaster payments. If you withheld state
income tax, you may label it and report it on the statement to the
recipient. However, you are not required to report state withholding
to the IRS.

Account Number

Box 5. ATAA Payments

Statements to Recipients

The account number is required if you have multiple accounts for a
recipient for whom you are filing more than one Form 1099-G.
Additionally, the IRS encourages you to designate an account
number for all Forms 1099-G that you file. See part L in the 2008
General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Box 1. Unemployment Compensation
Enter payments of $10 or more in unemployment compensation
including Railroad Retirement Board payments for unemployment.
If you make payments from a contributory program that has been
deemed to be in the nature of unemployment compensation, such
as California’s Family Temporary Disability Insurance payments,
file a separate Form 1099-G for payments from each contributory
program. Enter the total amount before any income tax was
withheld. If you withhold federal income tax at the request of the
recipient, enter it in box 4.

Enter ATAA payments of $600 or more that you paid to eligible
individuals under the Demonstration Project for Alternative Trade
Adjustment Assistance for Older Workers.

Box 6. Taxable Grants
Enter any amount of a taxable grant administered by a federal,
state, or local program to provide subsidized energy financing or
grants for projects designed to conserve or produce energy, but
only with respect to energy property or a dwelling unit located in the
United States. Also, enter any amount of a taxable grant
administered by an Indian tribal government.
Report amounts of other taxable grants of $600 or more. A
federal grant is ordinarily taxable unless stated otherwise in the
legislation authorizing the grant. Do not report scholarship or
fellowship grants. See Scholarships in the Instructions for Form
1099-MISC.

Box 7. Agriculture Payments

Box 2. State or Local Income Tax Refunds,
Credits, or Offsets
Enter refunds, credits, or offsets of state or local income tax of $10
or more you made to recipients. If recipients deducted the tax paid
to a state or local government on their federal income tax returns,
any refunds, credits, or offsets may be taxable to them. You are not
required to furnish a copy of Form 1099-G or a substitute statement
to the recipient if you can determine that the recipient did not claim
itemized deductions on the recipient’s federal income tax return for
the tax year giving rise to the refund, credit, or offset. However, you
must file Form 1099-G with the IRS in all cases.
A tax on dividends, a tax on net gains from the sale or exchange
of a capital asset, and a tax on the net taxable income of an

Enter USDA agricultural subsidy payments made during the year. If
you are a nominee that received subsidy payments for another
person, file Form 1099-G to report the actual owner of the
payments, and report the amount of the payments in box 7.

Box 8. Trade or Business Income (Checkbox)
If the amount in box 2 is a refund, credit, or offset attributable to an
income tax that applies exclusively to income from a trade or
business and is not a tax of general application, enter an “X” in this
box.

Cat. No. 27979M