Updated September 30, 2026. Quick answer: Box 3 of Form 1099-DIV is where the payer puts nondividend distributions. The IRS instruction for the payer is one short sentence, so the form alone does not tell you how the amount affects your return.
Schedule A and Schedule B (Form 1040) for 2025, read line by line: Schedule B lines 5 and 6.
The recipient copy of Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, read box by box: 1099-MISC box 8.
What the instruction says
Box 3 reads: “Enter nondividend distributions, if determinable.” For a corporation that paid them, “File Form 5452 if you are a corporation and paid nondividend distributions to shareholders.” The 1099-DIV instructions read here are the January 2024 revision, which is the edition irs.gov shows as current for that form. Those are instructions to the payer that files the form, so they show what a box is meant to hold, not what tax follows from it. Nothing in it explains the tax effect, so this page does not decide that.
Boxes 9 and 10: liquidations
Two neighbouring boxes are for a company being wound up. The instructions say “Boxes 9 and 10 apply only to corporations in partial or complete liquidation. Do not include these amounts in box 1a or 1b.” Box 9 is “Enter cash distributed as part of a liquidation.” Box 10 is “Enter noncash distributions made as part of a liquidation. Show the fair market value as of the date of distribution.”
Where Box 3 sits next to Box 1a
Box 3 is a separate box, not part of the Box 1a total described on the Box 1a and 1b page. If you want to know whether a distribution is a dividend at all, that is a question for the payer or a preparer, and the instructions here do not answer it.
Common mistakes
- Adding Box 3 to Box 1a. They are separate boxes.
- Looking for liquidation payments in Box 1a. The instructions say not to include them there.
- Treating Box 3 as tax-free. The instruction only says what the payer enters.
Related: 1099-DIV Box 2a to 2f: Capital Gain Distributions, and 1099-DIV Box 12 and 13: Exempt-Interest Dividends.
Every box in one place: the 1099-DIV, 1099-INT and 1099-B boxes table. If your withdrawal came from an IRA or 401(k), see the Form 1099-R Box 7 codes.
Sources
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DIV (Rev. January 2024): irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099div.pdf
- IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-INT and 1099-OID (Rev. January 2024): irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099int.pdf
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-B (2026): irs.gov/instructions/i1099b
Source: the IRS instructions for the filer of each form, read at irs.gov on September 30, 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.