The person that I was renting a booth from, never gave me their EIN information for me to file my 1099. I only made $2,000 for the two months that I rented, but I paid $1225 in booth rental to them. I am unable to contact the person due to me leaving the space. Should I just claim it as an expense, or do I need to attempt to file a 1099? I don't want to get in trouble, but I am very frustrated. I tried to find them through the NC business.gov and I am unable to find them.
Yes, you can deduct your booth rental even if you didn't issue a 1099 to the person or company that you paid. If you paid them electronically, you don't have to issue the 1099-NEC at all.
The IRS says you should file Form 1099-NEC for each person in the course of your business to whom you have paid at least $600 during the year:
However, you don't usually report payments made to C or S Corporations unless they are:
Payments made with a credit card, or other electronic payment system aren't subject to reporting on Form 1099-NEC. Follow this link for more details about Form 1099-NEC.
For your future reference, if you pay someone whom you need to issue a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, ask them to fill out a W-9 prior to paying them.