LGBT couples, don’t forget about the 1099-INT
A reminder from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the extra step lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered couples (and any other non-married couples sharing a bank account) need to take to stay on the good side of the IRS:
While the gay and lesbian community waits for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on the fate of same-sex marriage, lesbian and gay couples ignore the Internal Revenue Service’s 1099-INT at their own risk.
The 1099-INT is a slip of paper from the bank that arrives in time for Tax Day that shows how much interest has been paid to the account holder. That same information has been reported to the IRS. For unmarried people who share an account, the information can be a paperwork headache — or even grow to the level of legal disaster. To properly handle it, the first account holder should issue a separate 1099-INT to the second and then file a Form 1096 with the IRS to alert the government that the interest was split between two parties.