The IRS has made significant changes to 1099 forms for the 2020 tax year, impacting how business owners report taxable payments. While the same income reporting rules remain in place, filers will now use Form 1099-NEC to report non-employee compensation (NEC) rather than Form 1099-MISC. However, business owners may still need to report other taxable payments using Form 1099-MISC.

As the filing deadlines approach, attorneys and accountants should ensure that they fully understand the changes to the IRS 1099 tax forms to avoid common pitfalls, properly advise their clients, and remain compliant with IRS requirements.

Additional IRS guidance and resources about the use of these forms can be found here:

• Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (2020)
• About Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income
• About Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation

Since businesses utilize both Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC to report payments made to non-employees, they must fully understand the difference in application for each situation. 

You can learn more about these changes and get tips for overcoming common filing mistakes with NBI’s recent event, IRS Form 1099 — New Requirements!, presented by Marjorie Belliotti, CPA, CGMA. The course aired as a live video webinar on December 11, 2020 and is now available to purchase OnDemand.

Happy filing!