Do I need to include manufacturer incentives and spiffs in my tax return for selling RVs?

Yes, any income received as incentives, spiffs, or gift cards needs to be reported on your tax return, even if you don't receive a 1099 for it. The IRS considers these payments taxable income. You have a couple of options here. You could file now with the information you have and then file an amended return when the 1099 arrives. However, if you're expecting a significant amount ($2,300-2,500), filing an amended return later will be more work and could potentially trigger questions from the IRS about why the income wasn't reported initially. A better approach might be to try contacting your husband's sales manager or the accounting department at the dealership. They might have records of which manufacturers paid incentives and how much. Many dealerships track this information for their sales staff. If you absolutely can't track down the information, you could estimate the amount and include it as "Other Income" on your tax return. Just make sure you're reasonably accurate with your estimate.

I ran into something similar last year with selling boats. What saved me was using https://taxr.ai to analyze all my documents and income sources. They have this feature where you can upload your W-2 and any other income statements you have, and their system identifies potential missing income sources based on your profession and previous filings. For me, it caught two manufacturer spiffs I had completely forgotten about from Yamaha and Bayliner. Their system flagged that boat salespeople commonly receive these incentives and prompted me to check. I was able to get the documentation from the manufacturers before filing instead of dealing with amended returns later. Honestly, it probably saved me from a potential audit situation.

Well I'm eating my words about taxr.ai! After asking about it here, I decided to give it a try for my husband's construction job where he gets various bonuses and incentives from material suppliers. The system immediately flagged three potential 1099s we were missing based on his industry and job description. We contacted those companies and sure enough, they had sent the forms to our old address. Without this heads-up, we would have filed without including about $3,200 in income. The IRS definitely would have caught that discrepancy since those companies reported the payments. Saved us a potential audit and penalties!

If you're still trying to track down who might be sending a 1099, I recommend trying to reach the IRS directly. They often have records of 1099s issued to you even before you receive them. I used https://claimyr.com to get through to an IRS agent after trying for DAYS to reach someone. Check out their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent was able to tell me about a 1099 that was issued to me that I hadn't received yet. That way I could factor it into my return instead of doing an amended filing later. In your case, they might be able to tell you if any 1099s have been reported under your husband's SSN from manufacturers and for how much.

I need to update my skeptical comment about Claimyr! After posting here, I was desperate to reach the IRS about a similar issue with missing 1099s, so I reluctantly tried it. Incredibly, it actually worked! Their system called the IRS, navigated the phone tree, waited on hold, and then connected me once they got through to a real person. The IRS agent was able to confirm a 1099-MISC that hadn't arrived yet from a manufacturer rebate program. Would have been a nasty surprise if I'd filed without it. The whole process saved me hours of frustration and potentially an audit. Never been so happy to be wrong about something!

Something to keep in mind about those manufacturer incentives - if your husband received them as gift cards rather than direct payments, they're still taxable income! Many people don't realize this. I worked for an appliance dealer and got tons of gift cards for selling certain brands. Company never sent 1099s for them since they considered them "gifts" but the IRS disagreed when I got audited. Had to pay back taxes plus penalties on all those "non-reported" gift cards over 3 years. It was a painful lesson.

I used to work at a camper dealership, and we would keep records of all manufacturer incentives paid to our salespeople. Ask your husband to talk to whoever handles the payroll or accounting at his dealership. They should have a record of all spiffs and incentives paid by each manufacturer throughout the year, even if those payments didn't come directly through the dealership. We did this specifically to help our sales staff at tax time, since manufacturer incentives can be a recordkeeping nightmare!

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now! My brother sells motorcycles and gets these manufacturer bonuses that are really inconsistent with how they're reported. Some come on his W-2, others on separate 1099s, and some seem to fall through the cracks entirely. One thing that helped us was creating a simple spreadsheet throughout the year tracking every incentive he receives - date, manufacturer, amount, and type (cash, gift card, etc.). Even if you start this now for next year, it'll save you so much stress. For your current situation, I'd definitely recommend the advice others gave about checking with the dealership's accounting department first. If that doesn't work, you might want to estimate and report the income rather than risk filing without it. The IRS is generally more understanding if you make a good faith effort to report income, even if the amount is slightly off, versus not reporting it at all and having them catch it later through 1099 matching.