What Form Do You Give an Independent Contractor for Taxes?

If you hire an independent contractor, you give them two IRS forms at different points: Form W-9 before you pay them, and Form 1099-NEC after the calendar year ends if you paid them $600 or more. The W-9 gathers the contractor’s taxpayer information for your records. The 1099-NEC reports what you paid, with copies going to both the contractor and the IRS. A few kinds of payments belong on Form 1099-MISC instead, and payments routed through credit cards or apps like PayPal don’t go on either form.

Form W-9 Before You Pay the Contractor

The first form is Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. Have the contractor complete it before you issue any payment. Waiting until year-end is a common mistake: if the contractor stops responding, you’re left without the information you need to file accurately.¹

You do not send the W-9 to the IRS. Keep it in your records for at least four years after the last tax year you paid the contractor.¹

The W-9 asks the contractor for their legal name, their federal tax classification (individual, sole proprietor, single-member LLC, partnership, C corporation, S corporation, or multi-member LLC), and their Taxpayer Identification Number. The TIN is a Social Security Number for individuals or an Employer Identification Number for businesses. The contractor signs a certification confirming the TIN is correct and that they are not subject to backup withholding.

If the contractor refuses to complete a W-9 or gives an incorrect TIN, you are required to withhold 24 percent of their pay and send it to the IRS as backup withholding.²

If the Contractor Is Not a U.S. Person

A contractor who is not a U.S. citizen or resident cannot complete a W-9. Instead, collect Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting. Depending on any tax treaty between the United States and the contractor’s home country, the W-8BEN can reduce or eliminate withholding.³ Payments to foreign contractors are generally reported on Form 1042-S rather than a 1099-NEC.

Form 1099-NEC After Year-End

Once your total payments to a contractor reach $600 or more in a calendar year for services performed as a non-employee, you file Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation.⁴ Copy A goes to the IRS. Copy B goes to the contractor. The contractor uses it to report income and pay their own income and self-employment taxes; you don’t withhold anything from an independent contractor’s pay unless backup withholding applies.⁵

The form pulls together your business name, address, and TIN alongside the contractor’s information from their W-9. Enter the full amount paid in Box 1. That figure includes reimbursements for travel or other expenses if the contractor did not give you an accounting of them (receipts, dates, business purpose).⁴ The name and TIN on the 1099-NEC should match the W-9 exactly; even small mismatches can trigger IRS penalty notices.

Payments to Corporations Are Generally Exempt

If the contractor’s W-9 shows they operate as a C corporation or S corporation (including an LLC taxed as one), you generally do not file a 1099-NEC for them. Two exceptions matter:

Attorney fees of $600 or more must be reported on a 1099-NEC even if the law firm is incorporated.
Medical and health care payments of $600 or more go on Form 1099-MISC (Box 6) even if the provider is incorporated.

Payments to tax-exempt organizations and government agencies, and payments for merchandise or freight, are also excluded from 1099-NEC reporting.⁴

Payments by Credit Card or Payment App Don’t Go on the 1099-NEC

If you paid the contractor through a credit card, debit card, or a third-party payment network like PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle through a linked business account, leave those amounts off the 1099-NEC. The payment processor reports those transactions on Form 1099-K, and including them yourself would report the same income to the IRS twice.⁴

For 2026, third-party payment networks are only required to issue a 1099-K when payments to one payee exceed $20,000 across more than 200 transactions.⁶ Even if the processor stays under those thresholds and issues no 1099-K, the exclusion still applies. Payments run through those channels never go on a 1099-NEC.

When the Right Form Is a 1099-MISC

Some payments to non-employees belong on Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information, rather than the 1099-NEC. The situations you’re most likely to encounter:

Rent of $600 or more for office space, equipment, or other property (Box 1).
Royalties of $10 or more (Box 2).
Medical and health care payments of $600 or more to physicians or providers, including corporate ones (Box 6).
Gross proceeds of $600 or more paid to an attorney that are not the attorney’s own fees, such as a settlement payment forwarded to a plaintiff’s lawyer (Box 10).

Attorney fees for the attorney’s own legal services still go on the 1099-NEC, not the 1099-MISC.⁷

Filing Deadlines

The 1099-NEC has a single deadline: January 31 of the year after payment, whether you file on paper or electronically. Copies to contractors are due by that same January 31 date.⁴

The 1099-MISC deadlines depend on how you file:

Copies to recipients: January 31.
Paper filing with the IRS: February 28.
Electronic filing with the IRS: March 31.

When a deadline lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it shifts to the next business day.⁴

How to File and What Happens if You’re Late

If you file 10 or more information returns of any type in a calendar year, including W-2s, you must file them electronically. The count combines all return types, so six 1099-NECs plus four W-2s adds up to ten and triggers the requirement.⁸

For electronic filing, the IRS Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) is a free web portal where you can key in data or upload a CSV file and download copies to send to contractors. You need to apply for an IRIS Transmitter Control Code through IRS e-Services before you can use it.⁹ The older FIRE system remains available and generally requires uploading returns in a specific file format.¹⁰

If you’re filing fewer than 10 information returns on paper, mail them to the IRS with Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns, as a cover sheet. Use a separate Form 1096 for each form type: one for all your 1099-NECs, another for all your 1099-MISCs. Mail them flat, not folded, and don’t submit a photocopy of the 1096.¹¹

The IRS charges penalties for each 1099 that is late, incorrect, or missing. For returns due in 2026:

Filed within 30 days of the deadline: $60 per return.
Filed more than 30 days late but by August 1: $130 per return.
Filed after August 1 or never filed: $340 per return.
Intentional disregard: $680 per return, with no annual cap.

The same penalty structure applies to failing to give a correct statement to the contractor, and the penalties stack: 20 incorrect returns filed after August 1 would cost $6,800.¹²

Keeping the Paperwork

Hold every completed W-9 for at least four years after the last tax year you paid the contractor.¹ Keep copies of the 1099s you filed, along with invoices, check numbers, and bank transfer confirmations, for at least three years from the filing date. That’s the standard window during which the IRS can assess additional tax.¹³

1
Internal Revenue Service. Forms and Associated Taxes for Independent Contractors
2
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification
3
Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-8 BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals)
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
5
Internal Revenue Service. Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee?
6
Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Issue Proposed Regulations Reflecting Changes From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill to the Threshold for Backup Withholding on Certain Payments Made Through Third Parties
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information
8
Internal Revenue Service. E-File Information Returns
9
Internal Revenue Service. E-File Information Returns With IRIS
10
Internal Revenue Service. Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE)
11
Internal Revenue Service. Form 1096 Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns
12
Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties
13
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping