QuickBooks Leaves Colorado Form DR 1093B Fields Blank for 1099 Filers
QuickBooks cannot populate 1099 data on Colorado's DR 1093B transmittal form, leaving users to manually enter counts, withholding totals, and penalty calculations.
QuickBooks users filing Colorado’s Form DR 1093B — the Annual Transmittal of State 1099 Forms — are running into a familiar wall at year-end: the software does not track or calculate 1099 data for this form, leaving several critical fields empty and requiring manual entry before the return can be filed.
What the form covers
Form DR 1093B is the transmittal document used to send the state copy of 1099 forms to the Colorado Department of Revenue. There is one notable exemption: accounts that file by magnetic media are not required to file the paper 1099 copies or the DR 1093B itself, provided there is no amount listed in box 3 of the transmittal.
Where QuickBooks falls short
The core issue is that QuickBooks only tracks and calculates W-2 data. When a user opens the DR 1093B form window, the software leaves every 1099-related field blank. The accepted guidance confirms that QuickBooks does not track 1099 information for this filing, and all relevant figures must be entered by hand. Users are advised to review each field the software did not populate and fill in the necessary data directly.
Fields that require manual entry
Several specific fields on the DR 1093B cannot be auto-populated and need direct attention:
Social security numbers
If the federal employer identification number is not available, users should enter the social security numbers of the company’s officers.
Number of 1099s
Because QuickBooks only tracks and calculates W-2 data, the count of 1099 forms being transmitted must be entered manually. The number typed into this field is what will appear on the printed form.
Tax withheld on 1099s
If a business withheld and reported income tax on 1099 statements outside of QuickBooks, the total amount of that withholding must be entered on Line 1. QuickBooks will not calculate or carry this figure.
Income taxes remitted
Similarly, Line 2 requires the total amount of payments made for state tax withholding on Forms 1099. This amount must also be entered manually.
Penalty and interest calculations
The DR 1093B includes penalty and interest fields for late filings, and QuickBooks does not compute either one automatically.
Penalty
The late payment penalty is 5% of the tax due or $5.00, whichever is greater. An additional half-percent is tacked on for each additional month the payment remains overdue, up to a ceiling of 12% of the tax due. The minimum late filing penalty is $5.00.
Interest
Interest is computed on the outstanding balance of tax due if the return is filed after the deadline. The rate applied is the current statutory rate set by the state, accruing for each month the payment is received past the due date. Users who need the precise rate for the filing period in question should verify the current figure published by the Colorado Department of Revenue, as QuickBooks does not supply or track that rate and it can change periodically.
Practical takeaway
For QuickBooks users managing year-end compliance, the DR 1093B is one of those forms where the software provides the template but not the data. The form window itself includes a Help button for general navigation and field-level guidance, but the burden of gathering 1099 counts, withholding totals, and any applicable penalty or interest figures falls entirely on the filer. Businesses that withheld state income tax on contractor payments will need those records from whatever system or process they used outside of QuickBooks to track and remit that withholding.
The bottom line for filers: do not assume a blank field on the DR 1093B means zero. Every field QuickBooks leaves empty is one that must be reviewed and completed manually before the form is transmitted to the state.