1099 Form

What is a 1099 form used for?

A 1099 tax form is part of a series of tax documents used to report payments made to non-employees (i.e., independent contractors, freelancers, or sole proprietors), as well as interest from a bank, investment dividends, prizes, or compensation for freelance work.

A copy must be provided to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the payee, who must then report that income when they do their own taxes. This way, the IRS knows if there’s a discrepancy between the reported income on a tax return and the total income a person received.

W-2 vs.1099

A W-2, also called a Wage and Tax Statement, is used to report payments to traditional employees. The IRS requires employers to use W-2 forms to report earnings, withholdings, and other benefits paid to each employee during the previous tax year. Some of the details found on a W-2 include:

• Total wages, tips, and salary paid
• Retirement plan contributions
• Total state and federal taxes withheld
• Medicare and Social Security

If you’re wondering whether to use a W-2 or a 1099 form, consider whether you do any of the following for the individual providing services:

• You control how the worker performs the job (i.e., where and when they work, equipment and methods used, etc.).
• You control how and when the worker is paid.
• You provide benefits, PTO, and the expectation of an indefinite term of employment.

If you do, they should probably be classified as an employee, in which case you must use a W-2 to report their earnings.

Types of 1099 forms

While there are more than a dozen different types of 1099 forms, most taxpayers only need to worry about the following:

• 1099-A: This tax form is needed if you’ve borrowed money from your business and as a result have acquired a property, or interest in a property, as part of the repayment.
• 1099-B:  This form reports the proceeds from broker and barter exchanges, such as stocks, commodities, and securities.
• 1099-C:  The Cancellation of Debt form is required if a credit card issuer or other lender settles $600 or more in debt.
• 1099-CAP: If you’ve received cash, stock or property from the acquisition of a company or change in capital structure, use this form.
• 1099-DA: This form is needed if you’ve carried out the sale, transfer or exchange of digital assets, such as cryptocurrency, for a customer.
• 1099-DIV:  This form is used by banks and other financial institutions to report dividends and distributions to taxpayers and the IRS.
• 1099-G:  This IRS form reports state and local income tax refunds, unemployment compensation, agricultural payments, and taxable grants.
• 1099-INT:  The Interest Income form is sent by a financial institution if an individual has earned at least $10 in interest in a year.
• 1099-MISC:  This form is for any professional services rendered outside an employer that earned $600 or more in a year. It’s also a catch-all for income that doesn’t fit into other 1099 categories, such as royalties, prizes, or awards.
• 1099-NEC:  This Non-Employee Compensation form is used to report income subject to self-employment tax (i.e., income paid to independent contractors).
• 1099-R:  This tax form is used to report distributions from retirement or profit-sharing plans, like IRAs, pensions, annuities, or 401(k)s. If a loan was taken from a retirement plan, this may also count as a reportable distribution.
• 1099-S: Use this tax form to report the sale or exchange of real estate.
• 1099-SA:  This tax form identifies distributions taken from a health savings account (HSA), Medicare Advantage Medical Savings Account (MA MSA), or Archer Medical Savings Account (Archer MSA).

Who gets a 1099 form?

Only taxpayers who earn an income (other than the wages, salaries, or tips reported on their W-2) of $600 or more within a given tax year will get a 1099 form. The type of 1099 sent depends on the payment issued. For instance, if you’ve made payments to an independent contractor for their freelance services during a given tax year, you’ll need to file a 1099-NEC form for that tax year.

The deadlines for submitting 1099 forms to the IRS and the individual vary, depending on the form type and whether you file electronically. While some exceptions apply, there is a failure-to-file penalty if you don’t submit the correct information by the specified due dates. (See the 2025 IRS instructions for more information.)

Can I print my own 1099 forms?

If you need to issue a 1099 form, you can't print them yourself. There are four primary ways to get 1099 forms:

1. You can order them from the IRS.
2. You can pick up physical, blank forms from an office supply store.
3. You can use a third-party online service to create 1099s for you.
4. You can use third-party tax prep software for businesses.

To submit paper 1099s to the IRS, you must also include Form 1096.