Skip to main content
February 24, 2020
Question

1099-C debt forgiveness taxed twice

  • February 24, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

I co-signed for a student loan with my daughter.   After missing a payment she was listed as in default. She kept paying on the loan. This year the creditor forgave the loan issued us both 1099-c's and returned her last payment.   Both 1099-C were for the entire outstanding loan balance.  How can the same debt be taxed twice?  We both have to report this as taxable income.

    1 reply

    February 25, 2020

    The one who would have to report taxable income would be the person that received the money, or your daughter in this case. 

     

    You can either not report the form 1099-C income on your tax return, or report it and deduct it back off. I would suggest you report it since the IRS will have a copy of the 1099 form and come after you eventually. You can put in an entry to exclude the income from taxation after you add it as follows:

     

    1. Go to the "Federal" section of TurboTax

    2. Click on "Income and Expenses"

    3. Find "Less Common Income" and choose the last entry "Miscellaneous Income"

    4. On the next screen, "Miscellaneous Income" choose the last entry "Other Reportable Income"

    5. Enter a description for your entry (1099-C sent in error), and enter the taxable amount you want to exclude from income as a negative number

     

    You daughter may be able to exclude the income from taxation by filing form 982, which can be found in the desktop version of TurboTax. 

     

    You can learn more about excluding cancelled debt from income by using this link:

     

    https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc431

    **Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"