Do LLCs Get a 1099? The Rules by Tax Classification

A business reports payments to a service provider on Form 1099-NEC (or, for other kinds of payment, Form 1099-MISC). The IRS Instructions say payments to a corporation, including a limited liability company treated as a C or S corporation, are generally not reportable on Form 1099-MISC, and the Instructions list the corporate payments that must still be reported. Nothing in them exempts an LLC for being an LLC. Whether it is exempt turns on how the LLC is classified for federal tax.

The disregarded-entity row follows the General Instructions for Certain Information Returns: for a single-member LLC disregarded under Regulations section 301.7701-3, enter the owner's name only on the first name line and the LLC's name on the second, and for the TIN enter the owner's SSN (or EIN, if applicable); if the LLC is taxed as a corporation, partnership, etc., enter the entity's EIN. A disregarded LLC owned by a corporation is different: the W-9 instructions have the disregarded LLC check the box for its owner's tax classification on line 3a, so the payer sees a C or S corporation and generally treats the payee as that corporation for the exemption in this section. How an S corporation election works, and when it makes sense, is covered in LLC vs S corporation.

The Instructions say that for tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold for reporting certain payments on these information returns rose to $2,000 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027. Form 1099-NEC box 1a is for nonemployee compensation of $2,000 or more: fees, commissions, prizes and awards, and other compensation for services performed for the payer's trade or business by someone who is not an employee. For payments made in earlier years the threshold was different, so check the Instructions for that year.

The Instructions say Form 1099-NEC must be filed on or before January 31, on paper or electronically, and that the due date moves to the next business day when it falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

Some payments are outside Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC entirely. The Instructions say reporting applies only to payments made in the course of the payer's trade or business, so personal payments are not reportable. They also say payments made with a credit card or payment card, and certain third-party network transactions, are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity and are not reported on Form 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC. Wages paid to employees are reported on Form W-2.

The Instructions list the payments to corporations that generally must still be reported. On Form 1099-NEC, these are attorneys' fees and payments by a federal executive agency for services. On Form 1099-MISC, they are cash payments for the purchase of fish for resale, medical and health care payments, substitute payments in lieu of dividends or tax-exempt interest, and gross proceeds paid to an attorney. The exemption from reporting payments made to corporations does not apply to payments for legal services.

So a law firm organized as an LLC taxed as a corporation can still receive a 1099-NEC, and a clinic organized the same way can still receive a 1099-MISC for medical and health care payments. A payer unsure whether an exception applies should read the Instructions for the form or ask a tax professional.

The IRS describes Form W-9 as the way to give your correct taxpayer identification number to the person required to file an information return. The Form W-9 instructions say an LLC that is a disregarded entity checks the box for its owner's tax classification in the first row of line 3a, the owner's name is reported on line 1, and the disregarded entity's name is entered on line 2. An LLC that is not disregarded checks the single LLC box on line 3a and notes its classification as C (corporation), S (S corporation) or P (partnership).

That is why a payer should collect the W-9 before the first payment. It tells the payer whether the payee may be a corporation, and it supplies the name and number the 1099 will carry. For which number a disregarded single-member LLC gives, see EIN vs TIN vs FEIN. If a payee does not provide a correct TIN, the W-9 instructions explain that the payer may have to withhold federal income tax on reportable payments (backup withholding), so a missing W-9 is not only a paperwork gap.

Your LLC has the same duty any business has. If it pays an independent contractor $2,000 or more in a year for services in the course of its trade or business (payments made in 2026), it generally files Form 1099-NEC for that person with the IRS by January 31 and furnishes the person a statement. The Instructions say you generally report payments to independent contractors on Form 1099-NEC.

Two checks come first. Is the payee a corporation (including an LLC taxed as one) for a payment that is not on the exception list? Then no form is generally required. Is the worker actually an employee? The Instructions point to the employment tax rules on classification, and an employee is paid on Form W-2. How an LLC's owners are paid depends on its classification, which the owner salary guide explains. For the owner-level picture of a one-member LLC, see the single-member LLC guide.