Generally, you are required to report a transaction that consists in whole or in part of the sale or exchange for money, indebtedness, property, or services of any present or future ownership interest in any of the following:

The following is a list of transactions that are not reportable. However, you may choose to report them; but if you do, the return filed and the statement furnished to the transferor must comply with the reporting rules.

The following are also not reportable if the transaction is not related to the sale or exchange of reportable real estate.

Generally, the person responsible for closing the transaction, as explained in 1 below, is required to file Form 1099-S. If no one is responsible for closing, the person required to file Form 1099-S is explained in 2 below. However, you may designate the person required to file Form 1099-S in a written agreement, as explained under 3 below.

Each person who signs the agreement must retain it for 4 years.

If an employee, agent, or partner, acting within the scope of such person's employment, agency, or partnership, participates in a real estate transaction, only the employer, principal, or partnership (not the employee, agent, or partner) may be the reporting person. However, the participation of a person listed on the Uniform Settlement Statement as the settlement agent acting as an agent of another is not attributed to the principal.

Sales or exchanges involving foreign transferors are reportable on Form 1099-S. For information on the transferee's responsibility to withhold income tax when a U.S. real property interest is acquired from a foreign person, see Pub. 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities.

For multiple transferors of the same real estate, you must file a separate Form 1099-S for each transferor. At or before closing, you must request from the transferors an allocation of the gross proceeds among the transferors. The request and the response are not required to be in writing. You must make a reasonable effort to contact all transferors of whom you have knowledge. However, you may rely on the unchallenged response of any transferor, and you need not make additional contacts with other transferors after at least one complete allocation is received (100% of gross proceeds, whether or not received in a single response). If you receive the allocation, report gross proceeds on each Form 1099-S accordingly.

You are not required to, but you may, report gross proceeds in accordance with an allocation received after the closing date but before the due date of Form 1099-S (without extensions). However, you cannot report gross proceeds in accordance with an allocation received on or after the due date of Form 1099-S (without extensions).

If no gross proceeds are allocated to a transferor because no allocation or an incomplete allocation is received, you must report the total unallocated gross proceeds on the Form 1099-S made for that transferor. If you do not receive any allocation or you receive conflicting allocations, report on each transferor's Form 1099-S the total unallocated gross proceeds.

If real estate is sold or exchanged and other assets are sold or exchanged in the same transaction, report the total gross proceeds from the entire transaction on Form 1099-S.

You must request the transferor's TIN no later than the time of closing. The TIN request need not be made in a separate mailing. Rather, it may be made in person, in a mailing that includes other items, or electronically. The transferor is required to furnish his or her TIN and to certify that the TIN is correct. For U.S. persons (including U.S. resident aliens), you may request a TIN on Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. Foreign persons must provide their TIN to you on the appropriate Form W-8. See part J in the 2007 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Alternatively, you may provide a written statement to the transferor similar to the following: “You are required by law to provide (insert name of person responsible for filing) with your correct taxpayer identification number. If you do not provide (insert name of person responsible for filing) with your correct taxpayer identification number, you may be subject to civil or criminal penalties imposed by law.”

The solicitation must contain space for the name, address, and TIN of the transferor, and a place to certify under penalties of perjury that the TIN furnished is the correct TIN of the transferor. The certification must read similar to: “Under penalties of perjury, I certify that I am a U.S. person or U.S. resident alien and the number shown on this statement is my correct taxpayer identification number.”

If you use a Uniform Settlement Statement (under RESPA), you may provide a copy of such statement, appropriately modified to solicit the TIN, to the transferor. Keep the Form W-9 or substitute form in your records for 4 years.

You may not charge your customers a separate fee for complying with the Form 1099-S filing requirements. However, you may take into account the cost of filing the form in setting the fees you charge your customers for services in a real estate transaction.

If you are required to file Form 1099-S, you must provide a statement to the transferor. Furnish a copy of Form 1099-S or an acceptable substitute statement to each transferor. For more information about the requirement to furnish a statement to the transferor, see part M in the 2007 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Enter the name, address, and telephone number of the person who is filing Form 1099-S. This information must be the same as the filer information reported on Form 1096.

Enter the name and address of the seller or other transferor of the real estate. If a husband and wife are joint sellers, it is only necessary to enter one name and the TIN for that person on the form.

The account number is required if you have multiple accounts for a recipient for whom you are filing more than one Form 1099-S. Additionally, the IRS encourages you to designate an account number for all Forms 1099-S that you file. See part L in the 2007 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Enter the closing date. On a Uniform Settlement Statement (under RESPA), the closing date is the settlement date. If a Uniform Settlement Statement is not used, the closing date is the earlier of the date title transfers or the date the economic burdens and benefits of ownership shift to the transferee.

Enter the gross proceeds from the sale or exchange of real estate. Gross proceeds means any cash received or to be received for the real property by or on behalf of the transferor, including the stated principal amount of a note payable to or for the benefit of the transferor and including a note or mortgage paid off at settlement. If the transferee assumes a liability of the transferor or takes the property subject to a liability, such liability is treated as cash and is includible as part of gross proceeds. For a contingent payment transaction, include the maximum determinable proceeds. Also see Multiple Assets Sold earlier on page S-3.

If you are reporting a like-kind exchange of property for which no gross proceeds are reportable, enter 0 (zero) in box 2 and enter an “X” in the checkbox in box 4.

Gross proceeds do not include the value of property or services received or to be received by, or on behalf of, the transferor or separately stated cash received for personal property, such as draperies, carpeting, or a washer and dryer.

Do not reduce gross proceeds by any expenses paid by the transferor, such as sales commissions, deed preparation, advertising, and legal expenses. If a Uniform Settlement Statement (under RESPA) is used for a transfer of real estate for cash and notes only, gross proceeds generally will be the contract sales price shown on that statement. If other property or services were exchanged, see Box 4. Check Here if the Transferor Received or Will Receive Property or Services as Part of the Consideration below.

Enter the address of the property, including the city, state, and ZIP code. If the address does not sufficiently identify the property, also enter a legal description, such as section, lot, and block. For timber royalties, enter “Timber.”

If the transferor received or will receive property (other than cash and consideration treated as cash in computing gross proceeds) or services as part of the consideration for the property, enter an “X” in the checkbox in box 4.

For a real estate transaction involving a residence, enter the real estate tax paid in advance that is allocable to the buyer. You do not have to report an amount as allocable to the buyer for real estate taxes paid in arrears. You may use the appropriate information included on the HUD-1, or comparable form, provided at closing. For example, a residence is sold in a county where the real estate tax is paid annually in advance. The seller paid real estate taxes of $1,200 for the year in which the sale took place. The sale occurred at the end of the 9th month of the real estate tax year. Therefore, $300 of the tax paid in advance is allocated to the buyer, by reference to the amount of real estate tax shown on the HUD-1 as paid by the seller in advance, and is reported in box 5. See Notice 93-4, 1993-1 C.B. 295.