The short answer is that 1099-NEC is for paying people who did work for you, and 1099-MISC is for most other types of payments that don’t fit on a W-2 or another specific form.

Before 2020, everything went on the 1099-MISC. Contractor payments were reported in Box 7 of that form alongside rent, royalties, and other miscellaneous income. The IRS brought back the 1099-NEC (nonemployee compensation) starting with the 2020 tax year to separate contractor payments from everything else. The main reason was to simplify enforcement and create a single deadline for the payments most commonly underreported.

If you paid a freelancer, independent contractor, or any nonemployee $600 or more during the year for services, that goes on a 1099-NEC. This is the form most small business owners will deal with. Web developers, subcontractors, consultants, bookkeepers, marketing freelancers. If they’re not your employee and you paid them $600 or more, they get a 1099-NEC.

The 1099-MISC still exists for other types of payments. Rent paid to a landlord ($600 or more), royalties ($10 or more), prizes and awards, crop insurance proceeds, payments to attorneys for legal services (separate from attorney fees for services performed as a contractor), and a few other categories. If you’re a business that pays rent on office or retail space, that’s the most common 1099-MISC scenario you’ll encounter.

The filing deadlines are different and this trips people up. The 1099-NEC is due to both the recipient and the IRS by January 31. No extensions. The 1099-MISC is due to recipients by January 31 as well, but the IRS filing deadline is February 28 if filing on paper or March 31 if filing electronically.

A common mistake is putting contractor payments on the 1099-MISC out of habit or confusion. The IRS will catch this and it can delay processing or trigger notices. Another frequent error is not filing at all because the business owner didn’t realize the threshold was met. If you paid a contractor $600 across multiple invoices throughout the year, those add up and a 1099-NEC is required for the total.

Both forms require the recipient’s taxpayer identification number, which is why collecting W-9 forms before you pay anyone is so important. Chasing down a W-9 in January from someone you paid the previous March is frustrating for everyone. Get it upfront as part of your onboarding process for any contractor or vendor.

Working with a bookkeeper in Franklin who stays on top of your vendor payments throughout the year makes the January filing deadline far less stressful. When your books are clean and every contractor payment is properly categorized, generating the forms is straightforward instead of a scramble.

If you have a mix of contractors, rent payments, and other reportable transactions, 1099 preparation is worth handing off to someone who files them regularly. The penalties for late or incorrect filings range from $60 to $310 per form depending on how late they are, and those add up fast when you have multiple recipients.