7 Tax Forms That Can Accidentally Increase Your Tax Bill

(Image credit: iStockphoto)

The upcoming blizzard of little 1099 tax forms (which report various sources of "income" to the IRS) brings two key dangers:

1. Losing one that contains key information that needs to go on your 2017 tax return, and

2. Thinking you have to include every dime reported on the 1099s to the IRS. Lots of the dollars reported on 1099s are tax-free.

The IRS gets a copy of every 1099 information return, so it's important to get this right. Set up a file right now to collect the forms as they arrive in the mail. And, read on to protect yourself from accidentally increasing your 2017 taxes by being misled by a member of the 1099 family.

Kevin McCormally
Chief Content Officer, Kiplinger Washington Editors
McCormally retired in 2018 after more than 40 years at Kiplinger. He joined Kiplinger in 1977 as a reporter specializing in taxes, retirement, credit and other personal finance issues. He is the author and editor of many books, helped develop and improve popular tax-preparation software programs, and has written and appeared in several educational videos. In 2005, he was named Editorial Director of The Kiplinger Washington Editors, responsible for overseeing all of our publications and Web site. At the time, Editor in Chief Knight Kiplinger called McCormally "the watchdog of editorial quality, integrity and fairness in all that we do." In 2015, Kevin was named Chief Content Officer and Senior Vice President.