Received 1099-MISC for job interview expense reimbursements - do I need to report this?

This is actually a common mixup! You're right that true expense reimbursements shouldn't be taxable, but unfortunately, many companies don't handle this correctly when it comes to non-employees. The issue is that interview expense reimbursements fall into a gray area. From the company's perspective, you weren't their employee when these expenses occurred, so they're treating the reimbursement as miscellaneous income to a non-employee (hence the 1099-MISC). However, from a tax perspective, you can offset this reported income. Here's what you should do: Report the 1099-MISC income on your Schedule 1 (Additional Income and Adjustments to Income), but then you can also deduct the exact same expenses as a job search expense on Schedule A if you itemize deductions. The key is that the job search must be in your current occupation - if your wife was looking for a similar type of position to what she currently does, you're good to go. The downside is that job search expenses are considered a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% AGI floor, and unfortunately, these deductions are suspended until 2026 under the current tax law. So you may end up having to pay tax on this reimbursement.

After dealing with almost the exact same situation last year, I found that using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) was incredibly helpful for sorting this out. I was also issued a 1099-MISC for interview expenses and was super confused about how to handle it. I uploaded the 1099-MISC form and my expense receipts to taxr.ai, and their AI tool analyzed everything and explained exactly how to report it on my taxes. The system even provided specific guidance on how to document the nature of the reimbursement to minimize my chances of an audit. The most helpful part was that it outlined multiple approaches based on whether the company would or wouldn't correct the 1099-MISC.

I wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after I posted my skeptical question. I decided to try it for my own complicated situation with some crypto transactions and a home office deduction question. The analysis it provided was surprisingly detailed - way more thorough than what I got from the "free advice" section of the tax software I usually use. It caught a deduction I would have missed related to my self-employment taxes. The document was really secure too - I had to verify with a code sent to my phone before I could even access my completed analysis. For anyone dealing with unusual tax situations like these interview reimbursements or 1099s that don't seem right, it's definitely worth checking out. Saved me a ton of stress trying to interpret IRS publications myself.

I had this exact problem with interview expense reimbursements showing up on a 1099-MISC last year! After the company refused to correct the form, I spent WEEKS trying to get someone at the IRS to confirm how to handle it. Impossible to get through on their phone lines - I'd wait hours and then get disconnected. I finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get past the ridiculous IRS phone system. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the IRS phone tree for you and call you back when they have an actual human on the line. Within about 45 minutes, I was talking to an IRS agent who confirmed that I could submit a statement with my return explaining the situation and including copies of my expense receipts to show that the 1099-MISC amount wasn't actually income.

I have to come back and admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it because I've been trying to resolve an issue with a misapplied payment for THREE MONTHS with no success. Used the service yesterday afternoon and had an IRS agent on the phone within 55 minutes. The agent was able to see that my payment had been applied to the wrong tax year and fixed it immediately. Problem solved in one call after months of frustration. For anyone dealing with issues like this 1099-MISC situation where you really need to talk to someone at the IRS to get clarity, this service is absolutely worth it. Still can't believe it actually worked as advertised.

Another option you might consider is to report the 1099-MISC income but then offset it with an "Other Expenses" deduction on Schedule 1, Line 24a. You'd need to include a statement explaining that this was a reimbursement for actual expenses incurred, not income. I did this last year for a similar situation (though mine was for a speaking engagement where they reimbursed travel) and didn't have any issues. Just make sure you keep all your receipts in case of an audit. The key is making it clear this was a dollar-for-dollar reimbursement of actual expenses, not a payment for services.

Has anyone ever successfully gotten a company to correct or cancel a 1099-MISC in this situation? I'm dealing with something similar now and wondering if it's even worth trying to get them to fix it.

This is such a frustrating situation that shouldn't happen but unfortunately does all the time! I went through something very similar two years ago with a different company. Here's my advice based on what worked for me: First, definitely try calling the company's accounting department (not HR) and ask them to issue a corrected 1099-MISC showing $0. Explain that this was a pure expense reimbursement, not compensation. Some companies will cooperate, especially if you can speak directly with their AP manager or controller. If they won't budge, you have a few options for handling it on your return. The cleanest approach is to report the 1099-MISC income on Schedule 1 but then take an offsetting deduction on the same schedule under "Other Adjustments" with a clear explanation that this was reimbursement for actual expenses. Attach copies of your receipts and a brief statement explaining the situation. Whatever you do, don't just ignore the 1099-MISC - the IRS will definitely notice if you don't report income that was reported to them. But you absolutely shouldn't have to pay tax on money that was just reimbursing your actual out-of-pocket costs. Keep all your documentation and be prepared to explain the situation if questioned.