Quick Takeaway

If you earn freelance income and you paid another freelancer $600 (or more) or over the course of the year to help you with your business, you probably need to send them a 1099-NEC.

You have multiple options for filing these:

Whichever option you choose, the process is easy, only slightly annoying, and you're taking care of yourself and the person you paid.

Deadline

  • These are due January 31, so be sure to take care of them in a timely manner to avoid any potential penalties!

Things You Need to Fill Out a 1099-NEC For Someone You Paid

The easiest thing to do is ask the people you paid to send you a W-9, and this form will include all the information you need from them.

  • Info for the person you paid (the "recipient" or "payee"):
    • Name (or business name)
    • Address
    • SSN (or EIN if they have one)
  • Info for you (the "payer"):
    • Name (or business name)
    • Address
    • SSN (or EIN)

Additional Notes / Explanation

Basically, you’re sending a record to that person, and to the IRS, of how much you paid them. Unless you have a corporation or you’ve got employees, you’ve got to send out a 1099-NEC to each person you paid $600 or more.

When you’re putting info into our website about how much you paid people, you can include the folks you sent 1099-NECs to under “People You Paid” on the "Freelance" tab. Be sure to total everyone you sent a 1099 to, as well as anyone you paid under $600 (you just don't have to issue these people a 1099).

1099-MISC Forms are still around, but now they're just used to report specific kinds of miscellaneous income such as:

  • rent payments
  • prizes and awards
  • medical and health care payments
  • payments to an attorney

Need help? Or don't want to do it yourself? Not to worry—we can take care of these forms for you for $25 each. Email us at info@brasstaxes.com to get started on that.