Fillable Form 1099-LS

What is Form 1099-LS?

Form 1099-LS, Reportable Life Insurance Sale, is a form made by the IRS for acquirers of a life insurance contract to report the acquisition in a reportable policy sale. A report policy sale is a direct or indirect acquisition of any interest in a life insurance contract when the acquirer, at the time of acquiring the interest, has no substantial financial, business, or family relationship with the person insured under said contract aside from the acquirer’s interest.

The acquirer of any interest in a life insurance contract in a reportable policy sale is required to file Form 1099-LS. According to the IRS, an acquirer “is any person that acquires an interest in a life insurance contract (through a direct acquisition or indirect acquisition of interest) in a reportable policy sale.”

However, there may be instances when you, as the acquirer, may not need to file an IRS 1099 LS form. You may not have to file this form in any of the following situations:

• The interest in the life insurance contract was gratuitously transferred to you
• You qualify for an exception in Regulations section 1.6050Y-2(f)
• Another acquirer or third-party information reporting contractor reports on your behalf under the unified reporting provisions of Regulations section 1.6050Y-2(b)

You may be qualified for an exemption under Regulations section 1.6050Y-2(f) if you are:

• A foreigner;
• Reporting reportable policy sale payments made to a person other than the seller under section 6041 or 6041A of the Internal Revenue Code; or
• Acquiring a life insurance contract in a section 1035 exchange.

For those who are required to file Form 1099 LS, attach a statement or acceptable substitute for each payment recipient and to the issuer. However, this requirement to attach or furnish a statement to the issuer is applicable only with respect to a Form 1099-LS filed with respect to the seller and if your acquisition is a direct acquisition.

You may download a PDF copy of Form 1099 LS on the IRS website. But you may electronically fill it out on PDFRun for your convenience.

How to fill out Form 1099-LS?

IRS 1099-LS has four copies, namely:

• Copy A - For Internal Revenue Service Center
• Copy B - For Payment Recipient
• Copy C - For Issuer
• Copy D - For Acquirer

The instructions below shall apply to all of the copies mentioned above. Provide all the necessary information, and make sure that everything you entered in this form is true, accurate, and correct.

Acquirer’s name, street address, city or town, state or province, country, ZIP or foreign postal code, and telephone no.

Enter the acquirer’s full legal name, street address, city or town, state or province, country, ZIP or foreign postal code, and telephone number.

Acquirer’s TIN

Enter the acquirer’s taxpayer identification number.

Payment recipient’s TIN

Enter the payment recipient’s tax identification number.

For the protection of the payment recipient, Form 1099 LS may only show the last four digits of their TIN. But the acquirer will report the complete TIN to the IRS.

Payment recipient’s name

Enter the payment recipient’s full legal name.

Street Address

Enter the payment recipient’s street address.

City or town, state or province, country, and ZIP or foreign postal code

Enter the payment recipient’s city or town, state or province, country, and ZIP or foreign postal code.

Policy number

Enter the policy number of the life insurance company assigned to the life insurance contract.

The policy number is a unique identifying number that is assigned to the life insurance contract by the insurance company or issuer entered on Form 1099-LS.

Item 1 - Amount paid to payment recipient

Enter the amount paid to the payment recipient in the reportable policy sale.

Item 2 - Date of sale

Enter the date of sale.

Issuer’s name

Enter the full legal name of the issuer.

The issuer’s name shows the insurance company that bears the risk regarding the life insurance contract on the date the IRS Form 1099-LS is required to be furnished to that issuer. The issuer’s name is generally the life insurance company that is responsible for administering the contract, including the payment of death benefits under the life insurance contract.

Acquirer’s information contact name, street address, city or town, state or province, country, ZIP or foreign postal code, and telephone no.

Enter the acquirer’s full legal name, street address, city or town, state or province, country, ZIP or foreign postal code, and telephone number.

How to file Form 1099-LS?

Use the following in completing IRS 1099 LS Form:

• Current General Instructions for Certain Information Returns; and
• Current instructions for Form 1099-LS.

Make sure to read the Current General Instructions for Certain Information Returns to know more about filing and furnishing instructions, as well as due dates and requests for filing extensions.

As mentioned earlier, IRS 1099 LS has four copies, namely, copies A, B, C, and D. File Copy A of Form 1099-LS with the IRS Center near your area. Send Copy B to the payment recipient of the life insurance contract. Furnish Copy C to the issuer or the life insurance company. The Copy D must be kept by the acquirer.

For statements to the issuer, they should be directed to the administrative office that processes the transfer of ownership. However, you may not need to furnish these statements to the payment recipient and issuer if there is another acquirer or third-party information reporting contractor reporting on your behalf.

If the reportable policy sale has been rescinded and you filed the IRS 1099 LS regarding the said reportable policy sale, you must file a corrected Form 1099-LS within 15 calendar days from the receipt of notice of the rescission. You must also provide a copy to the payment recipient or issuer with a corrected statement within 15 calendar days from the receipt of the rescission.

If you are filing electronically, use software that generates a file according to the specifications of Pub. 1220, Specifications for Electronic Filing of Forms 1097, 1098, 1099, 3921, 3922, 5498, and W-2G.