1099-NEC forms to contractors and the IRS

Send a 1099-NEC to every US contractor paid $2,000 or more in the previous year and file the copies with the IRS. Collect a W-9 from each contractor before you pay them.

When: By January 31 each year.
Agency: IRS
Form: Form 1099-NEC
Applies to: Every company in the United States, that pay independent contractors.
If missed: $60 to $340 per form depending on how late (the figures for forms due in 2026, adjusted yearly), with no cap for intentional disregard
Source: www.irs.gov, read October 22, 2026

Jay explains

Payments of $2,000 or more in a year to an individual or unincorporated business for services are reported on Form 1099-NEC by January 31, to the contractor and to the IRS. The threshold rose from $600 to $2,000 for payments made from January 1, 2026, so the forms due January 31, 2027 are the first at the new figure, which is indexed for inflation after 2026. Payments to corporations are mostly exempt, which is why a W-9 on file for every contractor matters: it tells you who needs a form. Ten or more information returns in a year must be filed electronically. Rent paid to an individual or an LLC landlord goes on the cousin form, 1099-MISC, on the same date and at the same $2,000 threshold.

Next dates

For a calendar year company. Weekend and holiday dates are moved to the next business day, as the IRS does.

February 1, 2027
January 31, 2028

Also in the federal calendar

Federal corporate income tax return Federal S corporation return Federal partnership return Business income on the owner's personal return Nonresident owner's US return, if one is owed Annual electronic notice for small exempt organizations Short annual return of an exempt organization Annual return of an exempt organization Annual return of a private foundation Exempt organization business income tax return Written acknowledgments to donors Corporate estimated tax payment

See it on your company's calendar

Your company's compliance calendar

Three answers to start. Refine it after.

What kind of organization is it?

An LLC's tax treatment decides which federal return it files. Choose the line that matches yours. Nonprofits are covered too.

State of formation

Employees

Count everyone on payroll. An S corporation's working owners are employees: they are paid a salary.

Where is it based? The state of the office, or of most of the people

A company based outside its state of formation is registered in both and files in both.

More about the company: other states, payroll, dates, abroad

Company name

Date registered in each other state

Optional. Some states key their report to the day you registered there rather than your date of formation; without it, the formation date stands in and the calendar says so.

Who runs payroll?

Fiscal year ends in

Date of formation

Needed for states that key filings to the anniversary of formation.

Annual revenue

Some taxes start at a revenue threshold.

We pay independent contractors We offer a retirement plan (401(k), SIMPLE, SEP)

Outside the United States We hold a bank or financial account outside the US A person or company outside the US owns 25% or more of it We own 10% or more of a company outside the US We pay people or companies outside the US

Each adds the FinCEN or IRS form that comes with it: the FBAR, Form 5472, Form 5471, Forms 1042 and 1042-S.

No account needed. Nothing is stored until you save it.

Put it in your calendar

The calendar is free to read and to print. A subscription keeps it alive.

Every date in Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar, updated when a rule changes
Email reminders 30 days, 7 days and 1 day before each date, and on the day
Your bookkeeper, your office manager, your CPA: invite anyone, unlimited
Mark each filing done and keep a filing record you can send a lender or a buyer
Every change in federal or state rules that touches your company, explained
Jay's plain English notes on every obligation

$190 a year ($15.83 a month), or $19 month to month

Put it in my calendar

Advisors: $49 a month for up to ten companies, $4 each after. Details