No, you do not fill out a 1099 for yourself. If you run a sole proprietorship, the IRS treats you and your business as the same taxpayer, so there is no separate party to send an information return to. You report the business’s income and expenses on Schedule C, attached to your personal Form 1040, and the net profit flows into your taxable income from there.1Internal Revenue Service. About Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss from Business (Sole Proprietorship)
The same answer holds if you operate through a single-member LLC. The IRS treats a single-member LLC as a disregarded entity, meaning its income and expenses land on your personal Schedule C exactly as they would for a sole proprietor, unless you have filed Form 8832 to elect corporate tax treatment.2Internal Revenue Service. 3Internal Revenue Service. What to Do with Form 1099-K Third-party payment processors send a 1099-K when your transactions exceed $20,000 and 200 transactions for the year.4Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues FAQs on Form 1099-K Threshold Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
On the expense side, you subtract deductible business costs — advertising, supplies, insurance, vehicle expenses, professional services, and the rest — using the categories printed on Schedule C. The result is your net profit, and that is what the IRS taxes.
Self-Employment Tax on the Same Profit
Because no employer is withholding Social Security and Medicare from your pay, you owe self-employment tax whenever your net business profit is $400 or more for the year.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040) You calculate it on Schedule SE and file it with your 1040.
The rate is 15.3%, split into 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.6Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) Two things soften it. The 12.4% Social Security portion only applies to net earnings up to $184,500 in 2026; anything above that is subject only to the 2.9% Medicare tax.7Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base And you deduct half of your self-employment tax when figuring your adjusted gross income, whether or not you itemize.
Paying as You Go: Quarterly Estimates
Without a paycheck to withhold from, you send tax to the IRS yourself throughout the year. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more in federal tax after subtracting any withholding or credits, quarterly estimated payments are required, and they cover both income tax and self-employment tax.8Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes
For the 2026 tax year, the deadlines are:
- April 15, 2026, for income earned January through March
- June 15, 2026, for income earned April through May
- September 15, 2026, for income earned June through August
- January 15, 2027, for income earned September through December
If a deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the payment is due the next business day.9Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax
Underpaying triggers a penalty that works like interest on the shortfall, running at 7% as of early 2026.10Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates You avoid it by paying at least 90% of your current-year tax or 100% of last year’s tax (110% if your prior-year adjusted gross income was over $150,000).11IRS.gov. 2025 Instructions for Form 2210 – Underpayment of Estimated Tax
When You Do Issue a 1099 — to Other People
You never issue a 1099 to yourself, but you may owe one to contractors and other payees. The common form is the 1099-NEC, required when you pay an independent contractor $600 or more for services during the calendar year.12Internal Revenue Service. Am I Required to File a Form 1099 or Other Information Return Collect a Form W-9 from each contractor before you pay them so you have their taxpayer identification number when it’s time to file.
Other business payments use Form 1099-MISC, including rent, royalties, prizes, and gross proceeds paid to an attorney. The reporting threshold for most of these is also $600.12Internal Revenue Service. Am I Required to File a Form 1099 or Other Information Return
A copy of each 1099-NEC must reach the recipient by January 31 of the year after payment. Filing with the IRS is due by February 28 on paper, or March 31 electronically.13IRS.gov. Publication 1099 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2026) If you file 10 or more information returns of any type in the year (W-2s count), electronic filing is mandatory.14Internal Revenue Service. E-file Information Returns Penalties for late or missing 1099s start at $60 per form and climb to $340 per form after August 1, with a $680 per-form penalty for intentional disregard.15Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties
Records to Keep
Since your Schedule C numbers are only as defensible as the paperwork behind them, keep the records you used to prepare your return for at least three years after filing. The IRS generally has three years to audit, and up to six if it identifies a substantial error.16Internal Revenue Service. IRS Audits
For each business expense, capture the amount, the date, the business purpose, and who was paid or where it took place. A receipt or written record is required for any single expense of $25 or more, and for all lodging costs regardless of amount.17eCFR. 26 CFR 1.274-5A – Substantiation Requirements A spreadsheet, an app, or a handwritten log all work; the IRS cares about the content, not the format. Record the details close to when the expense happens, rather than reconstructing them months later.