2019 Schedule B: Interest Income from Joint Accounts

[The Real Halloween]

TP received interest income in 2019 from joint accounts with his mother in the amount of $900. Is the full amount reported in his Sch B? Or only half of the amount $450 is reportablea and taxable? The schedule B instruction seems to address the nominee accounts not joint accounts.

Thank you in advance for your time and comment.

[abctax55]

Whose SSN is on the 1099-Int?

That person reports 100%, & backs off 50% as "nominee" so the IRS can match.

The *other* person reports the 50% they're entitled to - the IRS doesn't care if you report MORE income than they are expecting to see on the return.

[The Real Halloween]

Thanks for the comment.

The joint account is a foreign account and TP's mother is a nonresident alien with no SSN.

[abctax55]

That sort of info would have been nice to have initially.  My answer doesn't change, nor did you answer the specific question of "whose" SSN.  It appears that the account is in the mother's name & some foreign ID number.

Beware of any FBAR/Form 114 reporting.

[itonewbie · Accepted solution]

---

@The Real Halloween wrote:

Thanks for the comment.

The joint account is a foreign account and TP's mother is a nonresident alien with no SSN.

---

If it is only interest income, it is fine to report as Anna suggested because interest on deposits is specifically exempted from tax under §871(i) so long as the interest is not US-ECI.

[The Real Halloween]

The foreign joint accounts have both TP's and mom's names and both foreign IDs (TP's and mom's ID on the joint accounts).  Any additional comment/  Thanks again for your time and additional comment.

[itonewbie]

Oops, I missed the part that it's a foreign account.

Just report your client's share of the interest income from that account but beware of FBAR reporting requirement as Anna suggested.

Agree with Anna you need to provide all relevant details because US persons and NRAs are subject to tax under different sections of the Code.