When is Form 1099-NEC due?

January 31, whether you file on paper or electronically. If that date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the due date is the next business day.

Is the 1099-NEC threshold still $600?

Not for payments made in 2026. For tax years beginning after 2025, the IRS raised the threshold for nonemployee compensation to $2,000.

Can AI decide whether someone is a contractor or an employee?

No. Worker classification is a legal question for you and your tax adviser. Use the assistant for the totals and the list of who to check.

How to get ready for Form 1099-NEC with AI

General information, not tax advice; confirm with a tax professional.

Short answer

Export a year-to-date payments-by-vendor report, ask an assistant to total what each vendor was paid for services, leave out card and payment app payments, and flag who is at or near the threshold. For payments made in 2026 the IRS threshold is $2,000, and Form 1099-NEC is due January 31. Request any missing W-9s now.

How to prepare for 1099-NEC filing

1In the fourth quarter, export a year-to-date payments-by-vendor report that includes the payment method, plus your vendor list with tax ID and W-9 status.
2Take out payments made by credit card or through payment apps and other third-party networks, which are reported on Form 1099-K instead.
3Ask an assistant to total each vendor's payments for services and flag anyone at or above $2,000, or close to it, using the prompt below.
4Check each flagged vendor's entity type and W-9, and request a W-9 from anyone who is missing one.
5Tie the totals back to your ledger, then file Form 1099-NEC and send recipient copies by January 31.

Copyable prompt: 1099-NEC vendor check

Upload the payments report and vendor list as CSV files. Replace tax IDs with yes or no before you upload.

Copyable prompt

I'm preparing for Form 1099-NEC filing for payments made in [year].

I have uploaded:
1. payments.csv: date, vendor, amount, payment method (check, ACH, credit card, payment app), memo or account.
2. vendors.csv: vendor, entity type (individual, LLC, partnership, corporation, unknown), W-9 on file (yes/no), tax ID on file (yes/no).

Please:
1. Remove payments made by credit card, debit card or payment app. Show the total you removed per vendor.
2. Total the remaining payments per vendor, and use the memo or account to separate payments for services from payments for goods. If you can't tell, mark it "check".
3. Flag every vendor whose services total is at or above $[threshold], or within $[amount] of it.
4. For each flagged vendor, show entity type and W-9 status, and mark anyone missing a W-9 or tax ID as "request W-9".

Return one table I can download as CSV. Do not decide whether a vendor is a contractor or an employee, and do not give tax advice.

Replace the [bracketed] placeholders. Remove client names, account numbers, and personal data before pasting into any AI tool.

Who needs a Form 1099-NEC?

The IRS says you generally report a payment as nonemployee compensation when four conditions are met: you paid someone who is not your employee, for services in the course of your trade or business, to an individual, partnership, estate or in some cases a corporation, and you paid that payee at least $2,000 during the year^[1]. The $2,000 threshold applies for tax years beginning after 2025 and may be adjusted for inflation from 2027^[1].

Which payments can you leave out?

Payments made with a credit card or payment card, and certain other payments including third-party network transactions, are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity and are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-NEC^[1]. That is why the payment method column matters: the assistant can drop those lines before it totals each vendor.

How do you collect W-9s without a January scramble?

Form W-9 is how a payee gives you the correct taxpayer identification number for an information return^[2], so ask for it when you set up a new vendor. If you pay bills through BILL, its W-9 Agent emails vendors to collect W-9s and enters them for you^[3].

Frequently asked questions

When is Form 1099-NEC due?: January 31, whether you file on paper or electronically. If that date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the due date is the next business day^[1].
Is the 1099-NEC threshold still $600?: Not for payments made in 2026. For tax years beginning after 2025, the IRS raised the threshold for nonemployee compensation to $2,000^[1].
Can AI decide whether someone is a contractor or an employee?: No. Worker classification is a legal question for you and your tax adviser. Use the assistant for the totals and the list of who to check.

Sources

Sources were checked when this page was last updated. Archived copies are cited where the original page could not be reached from our checker. Features and settings change, so confirm details with each vendor.

Not professional advice. This is general information, not accounting, tax, legal or financial advice. Check AI output yourself and consult a licensed professional for your situation. See our Terms of Use.

Accounts Payable
Automate Vendor W-9 Collection and Invoice Data Entry with BILL AI
BILL's accountant resource article explains how BILL AI extracts invoice details such as vendor name, invoice number, dates, amount, terms and PO number into bills, leaving fields blank when data is not recognized. It also describes duplicate invoice warnings, automatic splitting of multi-invoice documents, a Reminders report that flags potentially missing bills, and a W-9 Agent that emails vendors to collect and enter W-9s.
BILL, BILL W-9 Agent
BILL Accountant Resource Center (vendor article)

To keep a running log of what you pay each contractor through the year, the Business Expense Tracker is on our sister store.

Last updated: October 15, 2026