Updated September 30, 2026. Quick answer: Box 12 of Form 1099-DIV is exempt-interest dividends from a mutual fund or other RIC. Box 13 is the portion that comes from specified private activity bonds, and that portion is also counted in Box 12.
The recipient copy of Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, read box by box: 1099-MISC box 8.
Box 12
The instruction is “Enter exempt-interest dividends from a mutual fund or other RIC.” It adds “Include specified private activity bond interest dividends in box 13 and in the total for box 12.” 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. These instructions do not say whether the amount is taxed by your state or affects other parts of your return.
Box 13
For Box 13 the payer is told: “Enter exempt-interest dividends paid by a RIC on specified private activity bonds to the extent that the dividends are attributable to interest on the bonds received by the RIC minus an allocable share of the expenses.” The instructions define a specified private activity bond, generally, as “any private activity bond defined in section 141 and issued after August 7, 1986”.
A related box on Form 1099-INT
Interest paid directly on a municipal bond is reported on Form 1099-INT, not here. The 1099-INT instructions say “Any exempt-interest dividends from a mutual fund or other RIC are reported on Form 1099-DIV.” That form is covered on the 1099-INT Box 8 page.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a fund’s exempt-interest dividends on Form 1099-INT. The 1099-INT instructions send them to Form 1099-DIV.
- Adding Box 13 to Box 12. The Box 12 instruction says Box 13 is already in the total.
- Treating exempt-interest as free of every tax. The instructions describe reporting only.
Related: 1099-DIV Box 1a and 1b: Ordinary vs Qualified Dividends, and 1099-INT Box 8 and 9: Tax-Exempt Interest on Municipal Bonds.
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.