You've filed Form 1099-INT every January for years, and your vendor knows the file layout by heart. So when someone told you there's now a separate vehicle loan interest form, you assumed the same job with a different number on it. Form 1098-VLI and Form 1099-INT both report interest, and that's close to the end of what they share.
- Form 1099-INT reports interest you paid. Form 1098-VLI reports vehicle loan interest you received.
- The thresholds differ. $600 or more on Form 1098-VLI, and $10 or more on Form 1099-INT, or $2,000 or more in some cases.
- The IRS says reimbursement interest of $10 or more goes on Form 1099-INT and must not be included on Form 1098-VLI.
- Both share one calendar. Statements January 31, returns February 28, or March 31 electronically.
- The 10-return e-file threshold aggregates all information returns, so both form volumes count together.
Which form you file depends on the direction of the money
Form 1099-INT is a payer's form. The IRS instructions for Form 1099-INT say to file it for each person you paid amounts reportable in boxes 1, 3, or 8. The trigger is at least $10, or at least $600 of interest paid in the course of your trade or business.
That page carries a January 2024 revision date, so the $600 it prints is the older amount rather than a second current figure.
They also limit the return to interest payments made in the course of your trade or business. Everything on it describes money leaving your institution.
Form 1098-VLI runs the other way. Publication 1099 gives its official title as the Vehicle Loan Interest Statement. On the IRS draft Form 1098-VLI, the lender is labeled RECIPIENT'S/LENDER'S and the borrower is labeled PAYER OF RECORD'S.
Box 1 reads "Vehicle loan interest received by lender." Your Form 1099-INT extract pulls from interest you paid, and a Form 1098-VLI extract pulls from interest your portfolio collected, borrower by borrower. Those figures sit in fields your interest expense data has never touched.
What Section 6050AA puts on the lender's side
Section 6050AA covers lenders and other recipients that receive $600 or more of specified passenger vehicle loan interest. The 2026 edition of Publication 1099 says those recipients must file information returns with the IRS. They also have to furnish statements to taxpayers showing the total SPVL interest received during the calendar year.
The IRS put it in plainer words in its news release on car loan interest reporting. A business that receives $600 or more of interest from any individual in a calendar year must comply with the reporting requirements. The interest has to come from a qualified passenger vehicle loan.
Filing isn't all of it. The draft instructions add that a lender required to file must also provide a statement to the payer of record.
Here's how the two forms line up where they touch.
| Form 1098-VLI | Form 1099-INT | |
|---|---|---|
| Form title | Vehicle Loan Interest Statement | Interest Income |
| Who files it | The lender or other recipient of the interest | The person who paid the interest |
| Reporting threshold | $600 or more of specified passenger vehicle loan interest received in the course of your trade or business from an individual, a decedent's estate, or a nongrantor trust, plus reimbursements of overpaid interest | $10 or more ($2,000 or more in some cases) |
| Statement to the recipient | January 31 | January 31, with a March 15 exception for trustees and middlemen of widely held fixed investment trusts |
| Return due to the IRS | February 28, or March 31 if filed electronically | February 28, or March 31 if filed electronically |
Both threshold figures and both due dates come from the Guide to Information Returns in Publication 1099. The footnote on that $2,000 figure says the amount is adjusted for inflation every year.
The data your Form 1099-INT file has never carried
Beyond the interest total, the draft form asks for vehicle-level and loan-level detail.
- Boxes 2a through 2d, the year, make, model, and VIN
- Box 3a, the loan origination date, and box 3b, the loan acquisition date
- Box 4, the outstanding principal
- Box 5, the refund of overpaid interest
Box 4 has its own timing rule. It's the outstanding principal as of January 1 of the calendar year being reported. A loan originated during that year uses the origination date, and a loan you acquired that year uses the acquisition date.
A rule like that is export logic rather than data entry. Your loan system has to know which date applies to each loan before anyone builds the file.
Box 1 has boundaries in both directions, set out in the draft instructions. It includes interest on any obligation secured by a first lien on the vehicle. It excludes interest paid on amounts to repay existing loans on trade-ins, collision insurance, and boat and trailer purchases.
Prepaid interest is reported only in the year it properly accrues. Interest received during the current year may be reported for that year if it properly accrues in full by January 15 of the following year. Any part that accrues after January 15 is reportable only for the following year.
One loan can produce both returns
The IRS saw the overlap coming and drew the line itself. The draft Form 1098-VLI instructions carry a heading for interest on reimbursement. A financial institution or its middleman paying interest of $10 or more on a reimbursement must report that interest on Form 1099-INT.
Others paying interest that meets or exceeds the applicable reporting threshold in the course of their trade or business must report it on Form 1099-INT. Such interest must not be included on Form 1098-VLI.
- Vehicle loan interest your institution received from a borrower → Form 1098-VLI
- Interest your institution paid out in the course of its trade or business → Form 1099-INT
- Interest of $10 or more paid on a reimbursement of overpaid interest → Form 1099-INT, and never Form 1098-VLI
Read that against your own workflow. The same borrower and the same loan can produce two different returns, with an explicit rule about what must not cross between them. A merged process built on the idea that interest is interest has nowhere to put that instruction.
Deadlines stay put while the return count moves
Both forms sit on the same calendar, with the statement due January 31 and the return due February 28, or March 31 electronically. The counting is where lenders get caught.
Publication 1099 puts the electronic filing threshold at 10 returns, calculated by aggregating all information returns. Treasury Decision 9972, published February 23, 2023, lowered it from 250, effective for information returns required to be filed on or after January 1, 2024.
Because the count aggregates across form types, your Form 1099-INT volume and your Form 1098-VLI volume add together. IRIS is the IRS online portal for e-filing information returns. Paper filers should note that Form 1096 has been revised to add Form 1098-VLI.
The 1098-VLI filing deadlines deserve their own pass before January, along with the count that decides your filing method.
Notice 2025-57 was written for 2025
For 2025, Notice 2025-57 gave lenders transitional relief. The IRS announcement of that notice said the total interest could be made available on an online portal the buyer can easily access. A regular monthly statement, an annual statement provided to the buyer, or other similar means also met the requirement.
The IRS said it would not impose penalties for a failure to file information returns and provide payee statements. The relief applied where lenders satisfied their obligations as described in the notice. If your plan for this season is last year's year-end statement, IRS car loan reporting deserves an hour before you commit.
Per-form pricing and the borrower data file behind it
A second return means a second bill, so here's the pricing. eFile Only runs $3.00 per form, and eFile plus Print/Mail runs $4.50 per form. Both carry a $750 annual minimum.
eFile Only covers uploading borrower data and receiving IRS 1098-VLI forms on a per-borrower basis. The Print/Mail tier adds paper copies printed and mailed to borrower addresses.
What decides whether the season goes smoothly sits upstream of the price. It's the borrower data file, and whether your loan system can put vehicle and loan detail next to an interest total. Uploading your borrower data is most of the work.
Questions lenders ask about the two forms
Does Form 1098-VLI replace our Form 1099-INT filing?
No. Form 1099-INT reports interest you paid, and Form 1098-VLI reports specified passenger vehicle loan interest you received. Both can land in the same January at the same institution.
Who is the payer of record, and is anyone excluded?
The payer of record is the borrower. The form isn't filed when the payer of record is a nonresident alien individual, a foreign nongrantor trust, or a foreign estate. The draft instructions tie that exclusion to Proposed Regulations section 1.6050AA-1.
Why does everything here cite a draft?
The form and its instructions posted on IRS.gov today are early-release drafts. The cover page on both reads, "Do not file draft forms." The draft label doesn't change what your loan system has to be able to export.
People keep searching for a form numbered 1099-VLI. Which one is real?
The form the IRS numbered for this reporting is Form 1098-VLI, revised 12-2026 and carrying OMB No. 1545-2334. Form 1098-VLI explained covers the naming question along with the box-by-box read.
Borrowers are calling to ask where the amount goes on their return. What do we tell them?
Point them to a tax professional. Your obligation is to report the interest you received and furnish the statement. Questions about an individual return belong with someone advising that individual.
Where to start before filing season
I run 1098-VLI filing for lenders at VehicleLoanInterest.com. The risk here isn't a lender ignoring the rule. It's a team looking at two forms with the word interest on them and assuming one workflow covers both.
The new return wants a VIN, an origination date, and an outstanding principal nobody has ever exported. If you handle reporting at a bank, a credit union, a captive finance arm, or a buy-here-pay-here lot, start with your own loan system.
Ask whether it can produce that file at all. The vendor decision comes after that answer. When the file is there, you can create your filing account at VehicleLoanInterest.com.
