Chase Sending Out 1099 for Other Bonuses Too, e.g. Paperless & Retention Bonuses; Also Mistakenly Reporting 500 Points as $500(!)

Update: Chase will send out corrected 1099 forms.

So this is turning into a real ****storm.

Chase this year decided to send out 1099s for referral bonuses earned during 2018. Many reports are now coming in with Chase 1099ing other bonuses earned during the year:

1) $5 or $15 paperless statements bonus. Many people are reporting this. E.g. if they had 16 referrals, they are getting a 1099 for $805, the extra $5 being for the paperless signup.

2) Retention bonuses (1, 2, 3, 4). Not sure if they’re sending out for retention bonuses which require spend – those should be like signup bonuses which are considered rebates – it may be only for those that don’t have spend requirements. (It’s still odd being that the retention bonus is usually meant to partially offset the annual fee. As one r/churning member noted, it’s like getting a 1099 for using a $20 off coupon on your Costco membership.)

3) Two reports reader (1, 2) of getting 1099ed for a Marriott card upgrade bonus.

4) A reader suggests they are sending out 1099s for bonus Ultimate Rewards earned from a Best Buy purchase special offer (!?!?). This is getting pretty crazy if true. This reader’s 1099 was for $910.85, so Chase has obviously some wacky stuff going on here.

5) One r/churning member got a 1099 for various mortgage cashback and rebate offers they received from Chase.

Note: It seems so far that Chase is only sending out 1099s to those who earned $600 or more during the 2018 year. So if all you got the entire year is a $5 paperless bonus, you probably won’t get a 1099. But if all your bonuses bring you up to $600, you’ll get a Form 1099. You might get a few Form 1099s with smaller amounts which equal $600 total.

Another issue mentioned by multiple readers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is that Chase sent out a 1099 valuing the 500 points paperless bonus at $500! Yeah, that’s obviously a mistake, and presumably they’ll correct that one. This $500 issue also pushed a lot of people over the $600 threshold, e.g. if you got the 500 points bonus + 2 $50 referral bonuses, you’ll get 1099ed due to the $500 + $50 + $50 bonuses.

Anyway, this whole thing is turning into a real pain in the neck, most people just give their W-2 and a couple of other tax forms to their accountant, this takes it to a whole new level. We’ll have to see how it plays out. Obviously the 500 points mistake should get a retraction, but I’ll hazard a guess that some of the other stuff will get retracted to (though probably not the main thing which is the referral bonus part).

Follow-Up: Chase To Send Out Corrected 1099 Forms

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Pratham
Pratham (@guest_1801883)
February 23, 2024 01:42

Non-resident here, I got a 1042-S with $5 on there and $2 withheld for the paperless bonus. However, no money was withheld from me so I think Im supposed to file and get $2 more back from the feds?

VL
VL (@guest_1802377)
February 23, 2024 22:20

If $5 were deposited to your checking account check the statements, they might have taken $2 back… although I have to admit it is getting ridiculous 🙂 especially if you had no other taxable payments from Chase.

CreditCat
CreditCat (@guest_1735652)
November 12, 2023 19:00

I meant “mail gets lost” , sorry for the typo

CreditCat
CreditCat (@guest_1735651)
November 12, 2023 18:59

How can I know 100% if the sent out the 1099?
I.e., mail gets lots. Are these tax statements available in my online account as PDFs?

VL
VL (@guest_1735969)
November 13, 2023 12:23

In case of Chase, they may be.. but the problem is that any 1099 income is reportable by law, so even if you do not get 1099 (under $600) it is your responsibility to pay taxes. So, if you know you got more than $600 of freebies (referral bonuses, courtesy credits), but did not get 1099 MISC, reach out. If you got less (and you know it), then I would not worry. The 500 points vs $500 issue was a mistake, and it has been fixed back then.. so I would not worry about that one.

wooooDOC
wooooDOC (@guest_1093021)
November 17, 2020 15:33

f

Frito Pendejo
Frito Pendejo (@guest_718545)
February 6, 2019 20:25

another boglehead reported same thing. my wife does have two Freedoms, open for years.

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=272124&p=4366342

Frito Pendejo
Frito Pendejo (@guest_718541)
February 6, 2019 20:18

WTF? My wife got a $1000 1099-MISC from Chase. It lists two $500 “incomes”. According to my notes she received *nothing* from Chase in 2018.

I’m trying to find out more.

tlongstretch5151@gmail.com
[email protected] (@guest_718540)
February 6, 2019 20:18

delete this

Gareth
Gareth (@guest_718328)
February 6, 2019 15:21

What about the cash back then? The 3pts/$ Freedom Unlimited? I put like $70k on it, getting over 200k points. If they value it at $1/pt then I am straight dead…

gnutello
gnutello (@guest_718025)
February 6, 2019 07:28

Au contraire, Chuck. I got a 1099 for only a single $5 saved from paperless statements.

CY
CY (@guest_717982)
February 6, 2019 02:53

I only got $15 paperless statements bonus from Chase for the whole year and still received 1099, so I guess $600 is NOT the requirement. Also, we need to report all the earnings for 2018 on tax purpose this time (“no exemption” is one of the major change). I guess this may be the reason why the banks are sending these tax forms.