1099-NEC Generator for Contractor Recipient Copies

Form 1099-NEC reports what your business paid a non-employee for services during the year. For 2026 payments, two things changed that matter to small payers: the filing threshold rose to $2,000, and the IRS's older FIRE e-filing system is being retired in favor of IRIS. Our generator prepares the recipient copies. This page explains who needs one and what you still file yourself.

Who needs a 2026 Form 1099-NEC

The IRS treats a payment as nonemployee compensation when all four conditions are met:

1. You paid someone who is not your employee.
2. You paid for services in the course of your trade or business. Personal payments, like hiring a painter for your own home, aren't reportable.
3. You paid an individual, partnership or estate, or in some cases a corporation.
4. You paid that payee at least $2,000 during 2026.

Corporations are generally exempt, but attorneys' fees are reportable even when the law firm is a corporation. And if you backup-withheld any federal income tax, you must file a 1099-NEC regardless of the amount.

Worked example: which contractors get one

Payee	Type	Paid in 2026	1099-NEC?	Why
Jordan, web designer	Sole proprietor	$2,400	Yes	Services, individual, over $2,000
Priya, photographer	Single-member LLC	$1,800	No	Below $2,000 for 2026
Lakeside Legal PC	Corporation, attorney	$3,500	Yes	Attorneys' fees are reportable even for corporations
Brightline Cleaning Inc.	Corporation	$6,000	No	Corporations generally exempt
Sam, handyman, home repair	Individual	$2,500	No	Paid for your personal residence, not your business

Priya's $1,800 would have required a 1099-NEC under the $600 threshold that applied to 2025 payments. Under the 2026 rule it doesn't. Get a W-9 from every contractor anyway: you won't know in January which ones will cross $2,000 by December.

What's on the form

The December 2026 revision of Form 1099-NEC, used for 2026 payments, renumbers the main box and adds new ones:

Box	Contents
1a	Nonemployee compensation
1b, 1c	Cash tips and the Treasury tipped occupation code, new for 2026
1d	Overtime compensation reporting, new for 2026
2	Checkbox for direct sales of $5,000 or more of consumer products for resale
3	Excess golden parachute payments
4	Federal income tax withheld (backup withholding)
5–7	State tax withheld, payer's state number, state income

Recipient copies may show only the last four digits of the contractor's TIN. Truncation is allowed on payee statements but never on the copy filed with the IRS.

Deadlines and filing for 2026 forms

Task	Due	How
Furnish the recipient copy (Copy B)	February 1, 2027	Mail, hand delivery, or electronically with consent
File Copy A with the IRS	February 1, 2027	IRIS online portal, or official scannable paper with Form 1096

A few filing facts trip up small businesses:

• E-filing is required at 10 returns. The count is all information returns combined, including W-2s.
• FIRE is closing. Starting with tax year 2026 and the 2027 filing season, IRIS is the IRS's only intake system for information returns, and FIRE won't accept submissions after it shuts down at the end of 2026.
• Copy A from a PDF isn't scannable. The IRS warns that self-printed Copy A can't be scanned and may be penalized. Order official forms if you file on paper.

Before you start: tie the totals out

The number in box 1a should come from your books, not memory. Two quick checks catch most errors:

• Match each payee's total to your payment records. Add up the year's payments from your bank or accounting system, including any paid by check. Leave out amounts paid by credit card or through payment apps that report on Form 1099-K. The IRS says those payments aren't reported on the 1099-NEC.
• Match it to your contractor statements. If you sent a contractor payment statement with each payment, the December statement's year-to-date total should equal box 1a. A difference means a payment was missed or double-counted.

Also confirm each payee's name and TIN against the W-9 on file. A mismatch can lead to IRS notices and backup withholding later.

How our 1099-NEC generator works

1. Enter your business name, address and TIN as the payer.
2. Add each recipient's name, address and TIN from their W-9, and the 2026 amounts. Add several recipients in one batch.
3. Check the preview, where amounts below $2,000 are easy to spot before you buy copies you don't need.
4. Pay $9.99 per recipient and download the recipient copies and your record copies immediately, with an email link and 90 days of re-downloads from order lookup.

Corrections are free for 30 days. If you've already furnished and filed a form and later find an error, the official fix is a corrected 1099-NEC filed with the IRS.

Paying for rent, prizes, royalties or medical services instead of contractor work? Those go on Form 1099-MISC, at $12.99 per recipient. See 1099-MISC vs. 1099-NEC. For statements to send contractors during the year, see contractor payment statements.