Updated October 16, 2026. Quick answer: Boxes 4 to 9 of Form 1099-G (Rev. December 2026) cover federal tax withheld, RTAA payments, taxable grants, Department of Agriculture payments, a trade-or-business checkbox for box 2, and market gain on CCC loans. Each has its own line in the recipient instructions: box 4 is tax withheld, box 5 goes on Schedule 1, and boxes 7 and 9 point to the Schedule F instructions.
Boxes 4 to 9 at a glance
These six boxes sit between the tax refund boxes and the new family leave box. The recipient copy treats each one separately, and the table below sets the recipient text for each side by side.
| Box | What it shows | What the instructions say next |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Federal income tax withheld | “Shows backup withholding or withholding you requested” | “Include this amount on your income tax return as tax withheld.” |
| 5 RTAA payments | “Shows reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) payments you received.” | “Include on the “Other income” line of Schedule 1 (Form 1040).” |
| 6 Taxable grants | “Shows taxable grants you received from a federal, state, or local government.” | The payer instructions for box 6 say “State and local grants are ordinarily taxable for federal income purposes.” |
| 7 Agriculture payments | “Shows your taxable Department of Agriculture payments.” | “See Pub. 225 and the Schedule F (Form 1040) instructions” |
| 8 Trade or business checkbox | “If this box is checked, the amount in box 2 is attributable to an income tax” | “If taxable, report the amount in box 2 on Schedule C or F (Form 1040), as appropriate.” |
| 9 Market gain | “Shows market gain on CCC loans whether repaid using cash or CCC certificates.” | “See the Schedule F (Form 1040) instructions.” |
The rest of the form, including the unemployment, refund and family leave boxes, is collected in the 1099-G and 1099-K boxes guide.
Box 4: federal income tax withheld
The recipient text is short: “Shows backup withholding or withholding you requested on unemployment compensation, Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loans, or certain crop disaster payments.” “Generally, a payer must backup withhold on certain payments if you did not give your TIN to the payer.” “See Form W-9 for information on backup withholding.”
The payer instructions describe both kinds. “Enter backup withholding on payments required to be reported in box 5, 6, or 7.” “Enter any voluntary federal withholding on unemployment compensation, CCC loans, and certain crop disaster payments.” The rate is stated there too: “at a rate of 24% if a recipient does not furnish its TIN to you”. For RTAA payments, “Voluntary withholding on RTAA payments is not permitted.”
Backup withholding on dividends and interest follows a similar pattern, covered on the 1099-DIV box 4 page and the 1099-INT boxes 4 to 7 page.
Box 5: RTAA payments
Box 5 is for “reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) payments”. “Include on the “Other income” line of Schedule 1 (Form 1040).” The payer is told to “Enter RTAA payments made to eligible individuals under the Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance program if the total amount paid meets or exceeds the applicable reporting threshold.”
Box 6: taxable grants
“Shows taxable grants you received from a federal, state, or local government.” The payer instructions bring in two scopes. One is energy: “a taxable grant administered by a federal, state, or local program to provide subsidized energy financing or grants for projects designed to conserve or produce energy, but only with respect to energy property or a dwelling unit located in the United States”. Another is tribal: “any amount of a taxable grant administered by an Indian tribal government”.
They also describe the general treatment: “State and local grants are ordinarily taxable for federal income purposes.” “A federal grant is ordinarily taxable unless stated otherwise in the legislation authorizing the grant.” “Do not report scholarship or fellowship grants.”
Boxes 7 to 9: agriculture, the checkbox and market gain
Box 7 begins with “Shows your taxable Department of Agriculture payments.” “If the payer shown is anyone other than the Department of Agriculture, it means the payer has received a payment, as a nominee, that is taxable to you.” “Partnerships, see Form 8825 for how to report.” The payer side lists “USDA agricultural subsidy payments made during the year, including market facilitation program payments”.
Box 8 is a checkbox tied to box 2. “If this box is checked, the amount in box 2 is attributable to an income tax that applies exclusively to income from a trade or business and is not a tax of general application.” “If taxable, report the amount in box 2 on Schedule C or F (Form 1040), as appropriate.” Schedule C is walked through on the Schedule C page.
Box 9 is “market gain on CCC loans whether repaid using cash or CCC certificates”. “See the Schedule F (Form 1040) instructions.”
Edition and box numbers
The primary read for this page is the December 2026 revision of Form 1099-G (recipient copy, Copy B) and the December 2026 Instructions for Form 1099-G. The instructions describe their own use this way: “Use the December 2026 revision of Form 1099-G and these instructions to file 2026 information with the IRS in early 2027.” irs.gov was serving that revision on 2026-10-16. The March 2024 revision of the instructions is the previous one and was used for comparison. Boxes 4 to 9 keep their numbers in both revisions. One payer rule changed in wording: the March 2024 instructions say “Enter RTAA payments of $600 or more” and “Report amounts of other taxable grants of $600 or more.”, while the December 2026 instructions say “if the total amount paid meets or exceeds the applicable reporting threshold” and send the payer to Pub. 1099 for the threshold. Check the revision printed on the form you received, because the box numbers after box 9 differ between the two revisions.
Common mistakes
- Treating box 4 as only backup withholding. The recipient copy says it also covers “withholding you requested”, and either way the amount is included “on your income tax return as tax withheld”.
- Putting box 5 on a business schedule. The recipient instruction is “Include on the “Other income” line of Schedule 1 (Form 1040).”
- Assuming a box 7 payer is always the government. The form says “If the payer shown is anyone other than the Department of Agriculture” the payer received it as a nominee.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), 1099-DIV box 4 backup withholding, 1099-INT boxes 4 to 7, and self-employment tax explained.
Sources
- Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments (Rev. December 2026), recipient copy: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1099g.pdf
- Instructions for Form 1099-G (Rev. December 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099g.pdf
- Instructions for Form 1099-G (Rev. March 2024): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 16, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.