Starting in tax year 2020, payers must complete Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation to report any payment of $600 or more to a payee. There is a new form that only applies to business taxpayers who pay or receive nonemployee compensation.

Generally, payers must file Form 1099-NEC by January 31. For 2020 tax returns, however, the due date is February 1, 2021. Be advised that there is no automatic 30-day extension to file Form 1099-NEC although an extension to file may be available under certain hardship conditions.

Nonemployee compensation may be subject to backup withholding if a payee has not provided a taxpayer identification number to the payer or the IRS notifies the payer that the taxpayer identification number provided was incorrect.

Backup withholding refers to situations when the person or business paying the taxpayer doesn’t generally withhold taxes from certain payments. It applies to most kinds of payments reported on Forms 1099 and W-2G. There are, however, situations when the payer is required to withhold a certain percentage of tax to make sure the IRS receives the tax due on this income. This is known as backup withholding.

A taxpayer identification number (TIN) can be one of the following numbers:

• Social Security
• Employer identification
• Individual taxpayer identification
• Adoption taxpayer identification

If you have questions on nonemployee compensation, contact the office for more information.