Certain Government Payments

2011

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

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

What’s New
Pilot program for truncating an individual’s identifying
number on paper payee statements has ended. Filers of
Form 1099-G must show the recipient’s complete identifying
number on all copies of the form.

Reminder
In addition to these specific instructions, you should also use
the 2011 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
(Forms 1097, 1098, 1099, 3921, 3922, 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 IRS.gov or by
calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).

Specific Instructions
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; reemployment trade adjustment assistance
(RTAA) payments; taxable grants; or agricultural payments.
You must also file this form if you received payments on a
Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loan. The officer or
employee of the government unit having control of the
payments, received or made, (or the designated officer or
employee) must file Form 1099-G.

Statements to Recipients
If you are required to file Form 1099-G, you must provide the
same information to the recipient. Furnish a copy of Form
1099-G or an acceptable substitute statement to each recipient,
except as explained later under Box 2. State or Local Income
Tax Refunds, Credits, or Offsets. Also, see part M in the 2011
General Instructions for Certain Information Returns.

Account Number
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 2011 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns.

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 or governmental paid

family leave program 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.

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 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) on page 2 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 2010 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
2009, not ’09.

Box 4. Federal Income Tax Withheld
Backup withholding. Enter backup withholding at a 31% 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, CCC loans, and
certain crop disaster payments. If you withheld state income tax
see Box 10a through Box 11 later. However, you are not
required to report state withholding to the IRS.

Box 5. ATAA/RTAA Payments
Enter ATAA payments of $600 or more that you paid to eligible
individuals under the Demonstration Project for Alternative

Cat. No. 27979M

Trade Adjustment Assistance for Older Workers. Enter RTAA
payments of $600 or more that you paid to eligible individuals
under the Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance
program. Report the combined total of payments made to the
same individual under both programs on one Form 1099-G.

Box 8. Trade or Business Income (Checkbox)

Box 6. Taxable Grants

Box 9. Market Gain

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.

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.

Report market gain associated with the repayment of a CCC
loan whether repaid using cash or CCC certificates.

Box 10a. State (optional)
Enter the two letter postal abbreviation of the state for which
state income taxes are being withheld.

Box 10b. State identification no. (optional)
Enter the identification number of the state department, division,
or office identified in box 10a.

Box 11. State income tax withheld

Box 7. Agriculture Payments

Enter the amount of state income tax withheld from the
payment reported in box 1.

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.

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Instructions for Form 1099-G (2011)