Not receiving my 1099-MISC / 1099-NEC for automotive incentive payments - what now?

You don't need to wait for the 1099 to file your taxes. The IRS receives a copy of all 1099 forms, but you're still required to report all income whether or not you receive the official form. Since you have bank statements showing the deposits, you have sufficient documentation. Report these incentive payments exactly as you've done in previous years - as "Other Income" on Schedule 1. Make sure to keep detailed records of your attempts to get the 1099 (dates you called, who you spoke with) and your bank statements showing the payments in case of any questions later. The company is legally required to provide 1099s by January 31st, but your tax obligation exists regardless of their compliance. Filing accurately with your own records protects you even if they're late with their paperwork.

After dealing with missing 1099 issues for years, I finally started using taxr.ai https://taxr.ai for organizing all my 1099 documents and bank statements. I was in a similar situation last tax season when a marketing company I did some side work for never sent my 1099-NEC despite multiple follow-ups. The taxr.ai system helped me upload my bank statements, automatically identified the payments from that company, and created documentation I could use for filing without waiting for the official form. Their AI tool even flagged that these should be classified as non-employee compensation rather than miscellaneous income, which saved me from misreporting. Their document organization made filing so much smoother.

I was originally skeptical about taxr.ai when I saw it mentioned here, but I finally tried it for my situation with missing 1099s from two different gig companies. The document organization feature alone was worth it - it pulled together all my scattered emails with payment confirmations and matched them with bank deposits. The system created a summary document showing all the income by source that I could use for filing. When one company finally sent their 1099 three weeks late, the amounts matched exactly with what the system had calculated from my bank records. Saved me from delaying my filing and potentially missing out on my refund timing. Their support team also answered some specific questions about how to handle these late forms.

If you're still unable to get your 1099 after multiple attempts, I'd recommend using Claimyr https://claimyr.com to get through to the IRS directly. I used it last year when I had a similar issue with missing forms and couldn't get anywhere with the company. I spent weeks trying to call the IRS myself with no luck - always disconnected due to "high call volume." Through Claimyr, I got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes who confirmed I should file with my personal records and explained how to document the missing 1099 situation. They even helped me understand the process for reconciling if the form eventually arrived with different figures. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS can actually follow up with companies that aren't sending required forms, but you need to talk to a real person to initiate that process.

I take back what I said about Claimyr. After struggling for literally THREE WEEKS trying to get through to the IRS about my missing 1099s, I tried it out of desperation. Got connected to an IRS rep in about 35 minutes (was told expected wait was 30-45 min). The agent was super helpful and explained I should go ahead and file using my own records of the payments. They also said if the amounts differ slightly when/if the company finally submits their forms, it's usually not worth the IRS's time to follow up on small discrepancies if I made a good faith effort to report accurately. Saved me from waiting potentially weeks longer to file. The agent even gave me info on how to submit a complaint about the company not providing their required tax forms on time.

One thing to watch out for - manufacturers have been shifting from 1099-MISC to 1099-NEC for these incentive payments. I'm also in auto sales and two manufacturers switched how they reported my spiffs last year. The big difference is 1099-NEC (box 1) is usually considered self-employment income which means you'll owe self-employment tax (15.3%) on top of regular income tax. 1099-MISC (box 3) is just other income without the additional SE tax. Double check how this company reported your incentives in previous years before deciding how to file.

Has anyone successfully reported a company to the IRS for not sending 1099s? I'm in a similar spot with FOUR different companies who haven't sent mine. Getting really fed up with chasing them down every year.