No, You can enter the Social Security Number rather than an EIN.
Make the selection on the 1099-NEC entry screen.
I have entered the payer's SSN, but the Smart Check federal review is tagging this as an error saying the Payer's EIN is required even though it shows the Payer's SSN on the form as expected. I am unable to submit my taxes electronically due to this error.
This looks like a bug in the Smart Check feature. Is there any workaround to this issue or override to the smart check?
Actually I would delete the 1099NEC and just enter your total income as Other self employment income or as Cash or General income. You don't need to get a 1099NEC or 1099Misc or 1099K. Even if you did you can enter all your income as Cash. Only the total goes to schedule C.
How to enter income from Self Employment