NEW IRS REAL ESTATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Under new IRS rules, the seller must provide his or her name, address, and taxpayer identification number (usually a social security number) to the person responsible for filing form 1099-B, "Statement for Recipients of Proceeds From Real Estate, Broker, and Barter Exchange Transactions" with the IRS. The person responsible must in turn give the seller a copy of Form 1099-B or a statement containing the same required information.

In North Carolina, the closing attorney is generally the person responsible for filing form 1099-B. However, if no one is responsible for closing, the reporting requirement will fall to the following, in this order: the mortgage lender, the seller's broker, the buyer's broker. More information is available in IRS Publication 924 which is available free in bulk quantities by calling the IRS at 1-800-424-3676.