What Amount Requires a 1099? $600, $10, and No-Minimum Forms

The amount that requires a 1099 depends on which 1099 you mean. Most 1099 forms trigger at either $600 or $10 per payee per year: $600 for things like contractor pay, rent, and canceled debt; $10 for interest, dividends, retirement distributions, and most government payments. A few forms have no general minimum at all, and Form 1099-K, which covers payment apps and online marketplaces, uses its own two-part test.

Thresholds at a Glance

1099-NEC (nonemployee compensation): $600
1099-MISC (rent, prizes, attorney payments, other): $600, but $10 for royalties
1099-C (canceled debt): $600
1099-INT (interest): $10
1099-DIV (dividends and capital gain distributions): $10
1099-R (retirement distributions): $10
1099-G (unemployment, state tax refunds): $10
1099-B (brokerage sales): no general minimum
1099-S (real estate sales): no general minimum, with two exceptions
1099-K (payment apps and online marketplaces): more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions

The $600 Forms

Contractor and Freelancer Pay (1099-NEC)

A business that pays a freelancer, independent contractor, or other nonemployee $600 or more during the calendar year must file Form 1099-NEC and send a copy to the recipient. The figure is cumulative. Ten separate $60 payments to the same person trigger the requirement the same way a single $600 check would.¹

The rule applies only to payments made in the course of a trade or business. A company that pays a freelance designer $700 files the form; a homeowner who pays the same designer $700 for a personal project does not.²

Expense reimbursements count toward the $600 threshold when the contractor did not account for the expenses to the payer. Pay a contractor $500 for services plus $150 in unaccounted travel costs, and the reportable total is $650. Reimbursements under an accountable plan, where the contractor submits receipts and returns any excess, stay out of the total.¹

Rent, Prizes, and Other Miscellaneous Income (1099-MISC)

Form 1099-MISC covers several categories of non-wage income. A payer must file when it pays at least $600 during the year for rent, prizes and awards, medical and health care payments, crop insurance proceeds, payments to an attorney, or other miscellaneous income. Royalty payments are the exception, with a trigger of just $10.³

So $800 of annual office rent generates a 1099-MISC for the landlord, a $15 royalty check generates one for the writer, and a legal settlement unrelated to physical injury generates one for the recipient once it reaches $600.

Canceled Debt (1099-C)

When a lender forgives or cancels $600 or more of debt, it must file Form 1099-C. The rule reaches banks, credit unions, federal agencies, and other applicable financial entities. The IRS treats most canceled debt as taxable income, so the form lines up what the borrower and the lender each report.⁴

Exclusions can reduce or eliminate the tax, including insolvency and discharge through bankruptcy, but the lender files the 1099-C regardless. Check whether an exclusion applies before assuming the full amount is taxable.

The $10 Forms

Interest (1099-INT)

Banks and other financial institutions file Form 1099-INT when they pay $10 or more in interest to an account holder during the year. That covers standard savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and other interest-bearing products.⁵

Dividends (1099-DIV)

Brokerages and mutual fund companies file Form 1099-DIV when they pay $10 or more in dividends, including capital gain distributions, during the year. The threshold applies to ordinary dividends, qualified dividends, and exempt-interest dividends from municipal bond funds.⁶

Retirement Distributions (1099-R)

Distributions of $10 or more from pensions, annuities, profit-sharing plans, IRAs, and insurance contracts are reported on Form 1099-R. The form tracks the movement of tax-deferred money and shows how much of the distribution is taxable.⁷

Government Payments (1099-G)

Government agencies file Form 1099-G at $10 or more for unemployment compensation, and at $10 or more for state or local income tax refunds, credits, or offsets.⁸

Forms With No General Minimum

Brokerage Sales (1099-B)

When a broker sells stocks, bonds, options, or other securities on your behalf, it reports the gross proceeds on Form 1099-B. Virtually every sale gets reported. The narrow exceptions: sales of fractional shares with proceeds under $20, and, for barter exchanges, exchanges valued at less than $1.⁹

Real Estate Sales (1099-S)

The person responsible for closing a real estate transaction, typically the settlement agent or title company, files Form 1099-S to report gross proceeds. There is no general minimum, but two exceptions matter:¹⁰

No report is required if it can be determined with certainty that the total consideration is less than $600.
No report is required for a principal residence sale of $250,000 or less ($500,000 for a married seller) when the seller certifies in writing that the home is a principal residence and the full gain is excludable from income.

Payment Apps and Online Marketplaces (1099-K)

Payment apps and online marketplaces report business transactions on Form 1099-K, and this one uses its own test. The $600 threshold enacted by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was repealed retroactively. Under the current rule, restored by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, a third-party settlement organization files Form 1099-K for a payee only when payments exceed $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeds 200 in a calendar year. Both conditions have to be met.¹¹¹²

Payment card transactions (credit, debit, and stored-value cards) get reported with no minimum. The two-part $20,000/200 test applies only to third-party settlement organizations like payment apps and online marketplaces. Personal transactions such as splitting a restaurant bill or sending a birthday gift are not reportable at any amount. What matters is whether the payment is for goods or services, not which platform moved the money.

Payments to Corporations Are Usually Exempt

Payments to incorporated businesses, both C-corporations and S-corporations, are generally exempt from 1099 reporting. Pay an incorporated vendor $5,000 for supplies and no 1099 is required.¹³

Two exceptions override the corporate rule:

Attorney fees of $600 or more are reported on Form 1099-NEC even when paid to an incorporated law firm. Gross proceeds of $600 or more paid to an attorney in connection with legal services are also reported on Form 1099-MISC.
Payments of $600 or more for medical or health care services are reported on Form 1099-MISC even when paid to a professional corporation, unless the payment goes to a tax-exempt or government-operated hospital or care facility.¹⁴

Income Below the Threshold Is Still Taxable

A common misreading of these numbers: if no 1099 is issued, no tax is owed. That is not the rule. Earn $400 on a freelance project and receive no 1099-NEC because the payment falls under $600, and the $400 still belongs on your return. Reporting thresholds tell the payer when to file a form. They do not tell the recipient when income becomes taxable. All income is taxable unless a specific provision of the tax code excludes it.

If you receive a 1099 with an incorrect amount, ask the payer for a corrected form. If the payer will not issue one, report the correct income on your return and attach an explanation of the discrepancy.¹³

1
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
2
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.6041-1
3
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information
4
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6049 – Returns Regarding Payments of Interest
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-DIV
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Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-G (Rev. December 2026)
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-B
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-S
11
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues FAQs on Form 1099-K Threshold Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6050W – Returns Relating to Payments Made in Settlement of Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions
13
Internal Revenue Service. Am I Required to File a Form 1099 or Other Information Return
14
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. April 2025)