Guide

Collect W-9s before 1099 season: a guide for GCs and property managers

Every January, someone in the office finds out which subs never sent a W-9. By then the sub may be off the job, and the Form 1099-NEC deadline is weeks away. Here's what changed for 2026 payments, what the IRS expects from you as the payer, and a plan for getting W-9s in before the year ends.

The short answer

  • For payments made in 2026, the 1099-NEC reporting threshold is $2,000 per payee for the year.
  • Tax year 2026 Forms 1099-NEC are due to the IRS and to recipients by February 1, 2027, because January 31, 2027 is a Sunday.
  • If a sub doesn't give you a taxpayer identification number (TIN), you're generally required to withhold 24% of reportable payments to them (backup withholding). The IRS applies the new $2,000 threshold to backup withholding too.
  • The current Form W-9 is the March 2024 revision. Ask for it before the first payment, not in January.
  • This guide covers federal rules only. For state reporting, check with your state's tax department.

What changed for 2026 payments

The IRS's Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (December 2026 revision, for tax year 2026) say that for tax years beginning after 2025, "the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments required to be reported on certain information returns and/or perform backup withholding on those payments increased to $2,000 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027". Box 1a of the 1099-NEC is now for nonemployee compensation "of $2,000 or more".

That doesn't make W-9s less important. You often don't know early in the year what a sub will have been paid by December, so it's easier to have the W-9 before the first payment than to find out in January. Because the IRS's sentence covers backup withholding as well as reporting, ask your accountant where withholding would start for a sub who gives you no TIN. For 2027 payments, check the instructions again, since the figure may be adjusted for inflation.

Which subs need a 1099-NEC

According to the same instructions, you generally report a payment as nonemployee compensation if all four of these are true:

  • You paid someone who is not your employee.
  • The payment was for services in the course of your trade or business.
  • You paid an individual, partnership, estate or, in some cases, a corporation.
  • Your payments to that payee were at least $2,000 for the year.

The instructions also note some common exceptions. Payments to corporations are generally not reportable, but that exemption doesn't apply to payments for legal services. Payments for merchandise, freight, storage and similar items don't need a 1099-NEC. Payments made by credit card or through a payment card or third-party network aren't reported on a 1099-NEC; they fall under Form 1099-K. Whether a given payment counts is a question for your accountant; the W-9 gives them the facts.

The deadline for tax year 2026

The instructions say you must furnish the 1099-NEC to the recipient and file it with the IRS by January 31, and that "If any date shown falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday", "the due date is the next business day". January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so the due date for tax year 2026 Forms 1099-NEC is Monday, February 1, 2027. The instructions don't print a 2027 date; February 1 is what their next-business-day rule gives for this year's calendar. Both the IRS copy and the recipient's copy are due that day. Unlike Form 1099-MISC, which gets a later date if you file electronically, the 1099-NEC has the same date on paper or electronically.

That leaves little time in January to track down a missing W-9, and the IRS's General Instructions list per-return penalties for late information returns that rise the later you file.

What a W-9 gives you

Form W-9 is how a payer gets a payee's correct name and TIN; the IRS's requester instructions say it's used by "persons required to file information returns". The sub fills in:

  • Line 1: the name that goes on the 1099. For a sole proprietor or disregarded entity, that's the owner's name, with the business name on line 2.
  • Line 3a: federal tax classification, such as individual/sole proprietor, C or S corporation, partnership or LLC. It tells your accountant whether the corporate exemption might apply.
  • Part I: the TIN, generally a Social Security number or an employer identification number (EIN).
  • Part II: a certification that includes whether they're subject to backup withholding. For payments other than interest and dividends, the form says a payee generally isn't required to sign it, but must still give a correct TIN. The requester instructions say a "properly completed and signed Form W-9 can be relied upon to avoid backup withholding", so ask for it signed.

The form says "Give form to the requester. Do not send to the IRS." You keep it.

Which revision? The IRS's About Form W-9 page links the March 2024 form under "Current revision". The IRS has posted a draft dated June 2026, marked "DRAFT—NOT FOR FILING", and its cover sheet says "Do not file draft forms". Until a new revision is final, use the March 2024 form from irs.gov.

No TIN means backup withholding

The requester instructions list the cases where a payer must backup withhold. The first is when "A payee fails to furnish a taxpayer identification number (TIN)". In that case, "A payor must deduct, withhold, and deposit with IRS 24% of reportable payments made to that payee" until the problem is fixed. The IRS's backup withholding page gives the same rate and includes payments reported on Form 1099-NEC.

Publication 1281 says to ask for the TIN when the account is opened or the transaction happens, and that if the payee doesn't provide one when you first ask, "you must begin backup withholding". Amounts withheld are reported on Form 945. That's the best reason to get a W-9 before the first check: nobody wants to withhold nearly a quarter of a sub's payment mid-job.

TIN Matching

The IRS offers TIN Matching as one of its e-Services. According to the W-9 requester instructions, it lets a payer or authorized agent who is required to file information returns "match TIN and name combinations with IRS records before submitting the forms to the IRS". If a name and TIN don't match, ask the sub to check line 1 of their W-9: for a sole proprietor, the form asks for the owner's name there, not the business name.

Check your state

Everything above is federal. For state and local reporting, the IRS's General Instructions say to "Contact the applicable state and local tax department as necessary for reporting requirements and where to file". Check your state's tax department site, or ask your accountant.

A December plan

  1. List everyone you paid in 2026 who isn't on payroll: subs, cleaners, landscapers, repair vendors.
  2. Mark who you already have a signed W-9 for, and who you paid by credit card.
  3. Request the missing ones now, with a link to the blank form on irs.gov. A W-9 shows an SSN or EIN, so give subs a way to send it that doesn't leave it sitting in an inbox.
  4. Follow up weekly, and tell your bookkeeper who still hasn't answered.
  5. From next year on, get the W-9 with the subcontract, before the first payment.

Checklist

  • ☐ You have a list of every non-employee you paid in 2026.
  • ☐ Each one has a signed W-9 on file (March 2024 revision), or a request has gone out.
  • ☐ Line 1 names and TINs look complete; your accountant knows about any corporation boxes on line 3a.
  • ☐ Anyone without a TIN has been flagged for backup withholding.
  • ☐ You've checked your state's reporting rules.
  • ☐ February 1, 2027 is on the calendar for tax year 2026 Forms 1099-NEC.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your accountant or tax adviser decides which payments you report, and how.

Let GreenlightSubs chase the missing W-9s

A W-9 is one of the documents GreenlightSubs asks every sub for by default, next to their certificates and license. When you add a sub with an email address, they can get a no-login upload link right away. If their W-9 still isn't on file, GreenlightSubs emails them again every 7 days, up to 3 emails in total, counting the first request (those are the defaults, and you can change both). Nothing a sub uploads counts until someone on your team reviews and approves it, and only people signed in to your account can open an uploaded W-9. GreenlightSubs doesn't file 1099s, check TINs with the IRS or give tax advice; it collects the form and shows you who's missing one. Free for up to 5 vendors.

Start free How reminders work

Also see the COI tracking spreadsheet template, which has a W-9 column, and how to verify a certificate of insurance.

Sources

All read on irs.gov on November 6, 2026.

GreenlightSubs is not affiliated with the IRS. GreenlightSubs collects and tracks documents; it doesn't prepare or file tax forms.