Employers who hire independent contractors and freelancers are required to report the income paid just like reporting wages paid and tax withheld from employees. Rather than using Form W-2 – Wage and Tax Statement – you must fill out a variation of Form 1099.
The 1099 employee form isn’t exactly for employees. You can either fill out Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC. If you hire freelancers and independent contractors but also paid income that you need to report with a 1099-MISC, we suggest reporting the income paid with 1099-NEC. This will help you keep better records of the tax forms you file.
Fill Out 1099 Employee Form (Paper Filing)
As mentioned, you can either fill out Form 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC. Either form will do the job. On our website, we’ve provided taxpayers with plenty of printable tax forms that they need to fulfill tax obligations. Get the paper copy of the tax form you need to file to report nonemployee income paid below.
This tax form is fairly simple to fill out and it won’t take you much to report the income paid to a nonemployee. Take note that you won’t just report the income paid. If you withheld taxes, including the backup withholding, you will also need to report the federal and state income tax withheld.
The nonemployee will the 1099-NEC to report income earned when filing a federal income tax return. It’s important to enter the exact money amounts as it may result in the nonemployee filing an amended tax return if there are any significant differences.
One side note, you will need to file three copies of Form 1099-NEC. One copy for the recipient, the other two is for the state tax department and the Internal Revenue Service to be filed with Form 1096. Upon filing the printable Form 1099-NEC, mail the paper copy to the state tax department, and file the other with Form 1096 and send it to the IRS.
On the right side of the form, right under the nonemployee compensation label, where you’re going to send the form. Copy 1 is for the state tax department, Copy A is for the IRS, Copy B is for the recipient,