1099-NEC Contractor Summary

Prepares a 1099-NEC recipient statement and a payer summary - with a straight answer about what you can and cannot print yourself.

100% free. Runs entirely in your browser - your files and data never leave your device and nothing is uploaded to any server.

Template, not legal advice. Read this before you use it: you CANNOT file Copy A of Form 1099-NEC from a printout. The IRS requires the official scannable form or electronic filing, and a printed copy is rejected and penalised. This tool produces the recipient statement, which the IRS does allow on plain paper, plus a summary to file from. It is not tax advice - if you are unsure whether someone is a contractor or an employee, that question is worth an accountant, because getting it wrong is expensive.

Start from an example

Fills every answer with a worked example you can edit. Pick the one closest to your business.

0 of 15 details filled
You, the payer
The contractor

Copy these from the W-9 they gave you, not from an invoice. The W-9 name and TIN are the ones the IRS matches against.

On the copy you give the contractor you may show only the last four digits. Everything here stays in your browser.
The amounts
Everything you paid this contractor during the calendar year, on a cash basis - what actually left your account, not what you accrued.
Usually zero. It is only non-zero if backup withholding applied because the contractor did not give a valid TIN.
State reporting
Special cases
Your own records
Not part of the 1099 itself. It goes on your payer summary, which is what you will want when someone queries the total three years from now.

Nothing on this page is saved. This document collects a taxpayer identification number, so it is excluded from the remember-my-details option on purpose.

1099-NEC Contractor Summary

5 sections · 678 words · updates as you type

1099-NEC Contractor Summary

Last updated: 13 September 2026

Recipient statement - give this copy to the contractor

Form 1099-NEC - Nonemployee Compensation - Tax Year 2026

PAYER: [Payer name]

[Payer address]

Phone: [Payer phone]

Payer's TIN: [Payer TIN]

RECIPIENT: [Recipient name]

[Recipient address]

Recipient's TIN: [Recipient TIN]

Box 1 - Nonemployee compensation: $0

Box 4 - Federal income tax withheld: $0.00

This is important tax information and is being furnished to the Internal Revenue Service. If you are required to file a return, a negligence penalty or other sanction may be imposed on you if this income is taxable and the IRS determines that it has not been reported.

What you cannot do with this

You cannot mail this to the IRS as Copy A. Copy A of Form 1099-NEC is printed in a specific scannable red ink, and the IRS will not accept a black-and-white printout of it - including a printout of the PDF on their own website, which carries that warning on its first page. Filing an unscannable form can attract a penalty per form.

There are exactly three legitimate routes for the IRS copy:

  • File electronically through the IRS IRIS portal, which is free, or through a payroll or accounting service. Since 2024 anyone filing 10 or more information returns of any kind must file electronically, counting all forms together rather than per type.
  • Order the official forms free from the IRS and print onto those.
  • Have your accountant or payroll provider file them , which is what most businesses with more than a handful of contractors do.

The recipient statement above is different. Substitute statements to recipients on plain paper are expressly permitted, which is why this tool produces one.

Deadlines

For tax year 2026:

  • 31 January 2027 - the contractor must have their copy, and the IRS copy must be filed. Unlike most information returns, 1099-NEC has the same date for both, and there is no automatic extension.
  • State deadlines vary. Some states participate in the Combined Federal/State Filing Program and take the federal filing; others require a separate one, sometimes on a different date.

Penalties scale with how late you are, and they are charged per form. Filing a form with a missing or incorrect TIN is penalised at the same rate as filing late, which is why collecting a signed W-9 before the first payment matters more than chasing one in January.

Who needs a 1099-NEC

You issue one for each person or unincorporated business you paid $600 or more during the calendar year for services in the course of your trade or business.

Things that catch people out:

  • Corporations are generally exempt - if the W-9 says C corporation or S corporation you usually do not issue one. Attorneys are the well-known exception: payments to a law firm are reported even when it is incorporated.
  • LLCs depend on their tax classification , which is exactly why the W-9 asks. A single-member LLC gets a 1099; an LLC taxed as a corporation generally does not.
  • Card and third-party payments are excluded. If you paid by credit card, PayPal or a platform like Upwork, the processor reports it on Form 1099-K and you must not report it again. Double reporting is a common and awkward error.
  • Parts and materials count when they are incidental to the service. A plumber who charges for labour and pipe is reported on the total.
  • Personal payments are not reportable. This applies to your trade or business only.

Getting the details right

  • Use the name and TIN exactly as they appear on the W-9 , not the trading name on the invoice. A mismatch generates a CP2100 notice and can push you into backup withholding on future payments.
  • Report on a cash basis - what you actually paid during the year, not what you were invoiced. A December invoice paid in January belongs to the following year.
  • Do not include reimbursed expenses where they were paid under an accountable plan with receipts. Where you simply paid a round sum with no accounting, it is reportable.
  • Check the address. A statement returned undelivered still has to be sent; keeping the returned envelope is what evidences that you tried.

Generated from a template. Not legal advice - read it before you publish or sign it.

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About this tool

Answer a handful of questions and the document writes itself. It exists for US businesses that paid a contractor $600 or more and now have a January deadline, and in January, though the W-9 that makes it possible should have been collected months earlier is when it is worth twenty minutes. You cannot file Copy A from a printout. It must be the official scannable red-ink form or an electronic filing, and the IRS penalises unscannable submissions - a warning printed on the first page of their own PDF. Recipient statements on plain paper are expressly allowed, which is exactly what this produces. Nothing irrelevant is included. A clause that does not apply to you is omitted, not padded - a document describing something you do not do is a problem in its own right. Nothing is uploaded. The whole thing is assembled locally, so confidential details stay on your machine and there is no account to create or delete later.

How to use this tool

  1. Answer the questionsYour business name. Your address. Your phone number. Nothing you type leaves the browser.
  2. Watch it assembleClauses appear and disappear as you answer, so the document matches what you actually do rather than a generic template.
  3. Copy or downloadCopy the text, or download as PDF, Word or plain text. The Word version is the one to edit.

Key features

  • Built from your answers, so clauses you do not need are left out rather than padded.
  • Free with no watermark, no email wall and no per-document limit.
  • Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing uploaded, nothing stored, no account.
  • Says plainly what it is and is not, above the preview rather than in a footer.
  • Downloads as PDF, Word or plain text - the Word file is editable with no protection on it.

Common uses

  • Replacing a copied document that describes a different business.
  • Preparing what a client, an app store or a payment processor has asked to see.
  • Getting something in place in January, though the W-9 that makes it possible should have been collected months earlier.
  • Giving a lawyer a draft to review rather than paying them to start from nothing.
  • US businesses that paid a contractor $600 or more and now have a January deadline.

Tips for better results

  • Pair it with W-9 Form. Publishing one without the other leaves the gap people notice first.
  • Keep a copy of each version with its date. When someone asks what your terms said last March, the answer needs to be a file rather than a memory.
  • Reporting payments made by credit card or through a platform like PayPal or Upwork. Those are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K, and reporting them again makes the contractor look like they earned the money twice.
  • Download the Word version if you expect to edit it. The PDF is for publishing; the .docx is for changing.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Reporting payments made by credit card or through a platform like PayPal or Upwork. Those are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K, and reporting them again makes the contractor look like they earned the money twice.
  • Hiding it. A document nobody can find does not do its job - it belongs in the footer of every page.
  • Publishing it and never looking again. These go stale - you add a tool, change a processor, start selling somewhere new, and the document still describes last year.
  • Leaving the placeholder text in. Anything in square brackets is a field you skipped, and readers spot them immediately.

Frequently asked questions

Answer the questions on the left. The document builds as you type, and you can copy it, or download it as PDF, Word or plain text when it looks right.

No. It assembles a draft from standard clauses, and every page says so above the preview. Penalties are charged per form and scale with lateness, and a missing or incorrect TIN is penalised at the same rate as filing late.

Yes - free, no signup, no email required and no watermark. It runs in your browser, which is why it costs nothing to provide.

Reporting payments made by credit card or through a platform like PayPal or Upwork. Those are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K, and reporting them again makes the contractor look like they earned the money twice.

Broadly, US businesses that paid a contractor $600 or more and now have a January deadline. The best time to do it is in January, though the W-9 that makes it possible should have been collected months earlier.

Most people need W-9 Form and Freelance Contract as well. They cover the gaps this one does not.

Yes. Download the Word version and change anything you like - it is a normal .docx with no protection on it.

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