How tax preparers request a 1099-INT from clients
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In short
Ask each client for a 1099-INT from every bank, credit union and brokerage that paid them interest during the year, including online savings accounts and CDs that are easy to forget. Ask for the PDF from each bank’s tax documents page, and for both spouses on a joint return. Send the request in early February.
Why tax preparers need a 1099-INT
Box 1 interest goes onto Form 1040, and onto Schedule B once the total passes the IRS threshold. Box 3 interest on U.S. savings bonds and Treasury obligations is generally exempt from state income tax, and box 8 tax-exempt interest still has to be reported. A high-yield online savings account opened during the year is the account clients tend to leave off their list.
What exactly to ask for
Copy B of every 1099-INT for the tax year, one per institution. Ask the client to list every account that held cash during the year, including accounts closed mid-year, and to mention any account where the bank sent no form because the interest was small: that interest is still reportable, and the December statement shows it.
What to check when it arrives
- One 1099-INT per institution on the client’s account list, closed accounts included.
- Box 3 and box 8 amounts are kept apart from box 1, because they are treated differently on the federal and state returns.
- Box 4 backup withholding and box 6 foreign tax paid are carried to the return when present.
Email to send your client
Replace the bracketed parts. The same text fits in the message of a DokuTrak request (up to 1,000 characters).
Subject: Interest forms (1099-INT) from your banks
Hi [Client name],
A quick request for your return: I need the 1099-INT from each bank or credit union that paid you interest last year. Please think of online savings accounts, CDs and any account you closed during the year, since those are the easiest to forget.
Most banks post the form as a PDF in online banking, under Tax documents or Statements. If a bank sent nothing because the interest was small, just tell me the bank and the interest shown on your December statement.
Could you send them by [date]? I am glad to help if one is hard to find.
Thanks, [Your name]
Ask once. DokuTrak does the chasing.
- Your client uploads from one link, with no account and no password.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, by default 2, 5, 10 and 14 days after the request, until the file arrives.
- With AI review switched on in your workspace (it is off by default), each upload gets a first pass that flags a file that is not a 1099-INT, an unreadable or blurry scan or a copy where one of these is missing or cut off: the recipient’s name, the interest income amount. It says so when it is not sure.
- You accept every file or mark it for re-upload, and your client gets the note by email. The AI never accepts a file.