Before its reintroduction, the last time form 1099-NEC was used was back in 1982. Since then, prior to tax year 2020, businesses typically filed Form 1099-MISC to report payments totaling $600 or more to a nonemployee for certain payments from the trade or business. These payments generally represent nonemployee compensation and, up until now, would typically appear in box 7 of 1099-MISC
One of the nice things about receiving a 1099-NEC rather than a W-2 is you can claim deductions on your Schedule C, which you use to calculate your net profits from self-employment.
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In order to help clarify the separate filing deadlines when reporting different types of payments on Form 1099-MISC, the IRS decided to reintroduce Form 1099-NEC which has a single filing deadline for all payments that use the form.
What is nonemployee compensation?
The IRS explains that, in general, you must report payments you make if they meet the following four conditions:
- The payment is made to someone who is not your employee
- The payment is made for services in the course of your trade or business
- The payment is made to an individual, partnership, estate, or corporation
- The payment total is at least $600 for the year
Additionally, businesses will need to file Form 1099-NEC
- when they pay an individual at least $10 in royalties, or
- if the business has withheld any federal income tax under the backup withholding rules regardless of the amount of payments for the year to the nonemployee.
Nonemployee compensation can include:
- Fees
- Benefits
- Commissions
- Prizes and awards for services performed by a nonemployee
- Other forms of compensation for services performed for your trade or business by an individual who is not your employee
