Form 1099-NEC: Who Gets One, Threshold and Due Date
Form 1099-NEC reports nonemployee compensation: for tax years beginning after 2025, the IRS instructions (Rev. December 2026) have the payer file one for each person paid at least $2,000 in the course of the payer’s trade or business for services by someone who is not an employee, or in payments to an attorney, and they give a filing date of January 31. Exceptions, backup withholding and the difference from Form 1099-MISC are below.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Sources checked against IRS text on November 2, 2026 · Methodology & sources
What Form 1099-NEC reports
The IRS describes the form in one line and then says who gets one:
“Use Form 1099-NEC to report nonemployee compensation.”
“File Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, for each person in the course of your business during the year to whom you have paid at least $2,000 in: 1. Services performed by someone who is not your employee (including parts and materials) (box 1a); or 2. Payments to an attorney (box 1a). (See Payments to attorneys, later.)”
The form’s own box labels, as printed on the Rev. December 2026 form:
“1a Nonemployee compensation
[…]
1b Cash tips
[…]
1c TTOC
1d Overtime compensation
[…]
2 Payer made direct sales totaling $5,000 or more of consumer products to recipient for resale
3 Excess golden parachute payments
[…]
4 Federal income tax withheld”
The threshold and the tax year it applies to
The IRS states the amount and the years it covers near the start of the instructions, which are marked Rev. December 2026:
“For tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments required to be reported on certain information returns and/or perform backup withholding on those payments increased to $2,000 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027.”
IRS Publication 1099 (2026) has a matching passage. It words the inflation adjustment differently from the instructions and gives the earlier amount, $600:
“For tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments required to be reported on certain information returns and/or perform backup withholding on those payments increased to $2,000 and will be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027. Previously, the threshold amount was $600.”
“Use the December 2026 revision of Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC and these instructions to file 2026 information with the IRS in early 2027. Also, use them to furnish the information to the recipient. Continue to use these revisions for subsequent years until we issue a superseding revision. Do not use these revisions for prior years.”
The amount for Form 1099-NEC is $2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025, and $600 before that, according to Publication 1099. The 1099 reporting thresholds page covers the thresholds for the other 1099 forms.
| Item | Amount in the IRS instructions | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1099-NEC, services by someone who is not an employee, or payments to an attorney (box 1a) | At least $2,000 | Specific Instructions for Form 1099-NEC |
| Form 1099-NEC, federal income tax withheld under backup withholding (box 4) | Regardless of the amount of the payment | Specific Instructions for Form 1099-NEC |
| Sales of consumer products for resale, Form 1099-NEC box 2 or Form 1099-MISC box 7 | $5,000 or more | Specific Instructions for Form 1099-NEC |
| Form 1099-MISC, royalties | At least $10 | Specific Instructions for Form 1099-MISC |
| Form 1099-MISC, gross proceeds paid to an attorney (box 10) | At least $600 | Specific Instructions for Form 1099-MISC |
| Form 1099-MISC, rents, prizes and awards, and other listed payments | At least $2,000 | Specific Instructions for Form 1099-MISC |
Due date
The IRS gives January 31 for Form 1099-NEC, with a rule for dates that fall on a weekend or holiday. It gives different dates for Form 1099-MISC:
“Section 6071(c) requires you to file Form 1099-NEC on or before January 31, using either paper or electronic filing procedures. File Form 1099-MISC by February 28, if you file on paper, or March 31, if you file electronically. If any date shown falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday in the District of Columbia or where the return is to be filed, the due date is the next business day.”
The instructions also say the recipient gets a statement, and give a date for it:
“If you are required to file Form 1099-NEC, you must furnish a statement to the recipient. For more information about the requirement to furnish a statement to each recipient, and truncation, see part M in the current Pub. 1099. You can furnish each recipient with a single payee statement reporting all Form 1099-NEC payment types. You are required to furnish the payee statements and file with the IRS by January 31.”
For sales of consumer products, the IRS repeats the January 31 date in a caution:
“File Form 1099-NEC or Form 1099-MISC to report sales totaling $5,000 or more of consumer products to a person on a buy-sell, a deposit-commission, or other commission basis for resale. Caution: If you use Form 1099-NEC to report sales totaling $5,000 or more, then you are required to file Form 1099-NEC with the IRS by January 31.”
Form 1099-NEC or Form 1099-MISC
The IRS puts nonemployee compensation on Form 1099-NEC and other kinds of payments on Form 1099-MISC. For Form 1099-MISC the instructions begin like this:
“File Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information, for each person in the course of your business to whom you have paid the following during the year.
At least $10 in royalties (see the instructions for box 2) or broker payments in lieu of dividends or tax-exempt interest (see the instructions for box 8).
Any fishing boat proceeds received (box 5).
At least $600 in gross proceeds paid to an attorney (box 10) (see Payments to attorneys, later).
At least $2,000 in:
Rents (box 1);
[…]”
The instructions also say which payments belong on neither form:
“Payments made with a credit card or payment card and certain other types of payments, including third-party network transactions, must be reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity under section 6050W and are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC.”
Backup withholding
The IRS says a form is required whenever backup withholding applied, whatever the payment amount:
“You must also file Form 1099-NEC for each person from whom you have withheld any federal income tax (report in box 4) under the backup withholding rules regardless of the amount of the payment.”
Corporations, attorneys and other exceptions
The IRS limits reporting to payments made in the course of a trade or business:
“Report on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC only when payments are made in the course of your trade or business. Personal payments are not reportable.”
It then lists payments that do not need a Form 1099-NEC, starting with payments to corporations, and the cases where a corporation still gets one:
“Generally, payments to a corporation (including an LLC) that is treated as a C or S corporation). However, see Reportable payments to corporations, earlier.”
“The following payments made to corporations must generally be reported on Form 1099-NEC.
Attorneys’ fees reported in box 1a.
Payments by a federal executive agency for services (vendors) reported in box 1a.”
“Attorneys’ fees of $2,000 or more paid in the course of your trade or business are reportable in box 1a of Form 1099-NEC, under section 6041A(a)(1).”
Other payments the instructions list as not requiring a Form 1099-NEC include these:
“Some payments do not have to be reported on Form 1099-NEC, although they may be taxable to the recipient.
Payments for which a Form 1099-NEC is not required include all of the following.
[…]
Payments for merchandise, telegrams, telephone, freight, storage, and similar items.
[…]
Wages, any bonuses, prizes, and awards paid to employees (report these on Form W-2).
[…]”
E-filing
The IRS instructions describe a low e-file threshold:
“T.D. 9972, published February 23, 2023, lowered the e-file threshold to 10 (calculated by aggregating all information returns), effective for information returns required to be filed on or after January 1, 2024.”
What this page does not cover
- The Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. December 2026) do not state penalty amounts, and this page does not cover state filing rules.
- Whether a particular worker is an employee or an independent contractor is not decided here; the instructions point to Pub. 15-A and section 530 relief for that question.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Form 1099-NEC reporting threshold?
The IRS instructions (Rev. December 2026) say that for tax years beginning after 2025 the minimum threshold amount increased to $2,000 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027. They have the payer file Form 1099-NEC for each person paid at least $2,000 in services by someone who is not an employee or in payments to an attorney, in the course of the payer’s trade or business. Publication 1099 (2026) words the inflation adjustment differently and adds: “Previously, the threshold amount was $600.” See the 1099 threshold page for the other forms.
When is Form 1099-NEC due?
Section 6071(c) requires the payer to file Form 1099-NEC on or before January 31, using either paper or electronic filing procedures. If that date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday in the District of Columbia or where the return is to be filed, the IRS says the due date is the next business day. For the recipient copy, the instructions say: “You are required to furnish the payee statements and file with the IRS by January 31.”
What is the difference between Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC?
Form 1099-NEC covers services performed by someone who is not an employee and payments to an attorney, in box 1a. Form 1099-MISC covers other payments such as rents, royalties, prizes and awards, and medical and health care payments, and the IRS gives it a filing date of February 28 on paper or March 31 electronically. For sales of $5,000 or more of consumer products for resale, the IRS says either form can be used.
Which payments do not need a Form 1099-NEC?
The IRS lists payments for which a Form 1099-NEC is not required, including, generally, payments to a corporation, payments for merchandise, telegrams, telephone, freight, storage and similar items, and wages paid to employees, which go on Form W-2. The IRS adds that attorneys’ fees and payments by a federal executive agency for services must generally be reported even when paid to a corporation, and that personal payments are not reportable.
Is a Form 1099-NEC required below the threshold?
The IRS instructions say the payer must also file Form 1099-NEC for each person from whom federal income tax was withheld under the backup withholding rules, regardless of the amount of the payment.
Do credit card payments go on a Form 1099-NEC?
The IRS instructions say payments made with a credit card or payment card, and certain other payments including third-party network transactions, must be reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity and are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC.
Does the payer have to e-file?
The IRS instructions say T.D. 9972 lowered the e-file threshold to 10, calculated by aggregating all information returns, for returns required to be filed on or after January 1, 2024. The cover page of the IRS Form 1099-NEC PDF adds that a payer with 10 or more information returns, in the aggregate, to file may be required to e-file.