What Is the 1099 Filing Limit?

1099-MISC Financial Limits

For most types of income that come under form 1099-MISC, including payments to contractors, a business must report income where the total payments to any one recipient are more than $600 for the year; this is done by filing a 1099-MISC, covering the individual, with the IRS. A business has the option to also file a 1099-MISC for individuals to which it paid less money, and many businesses will do so to make recordkeeping easier.

Key exceptions include payments by fishing boat owners to crew and payments classed as nonqualified deferred compensation. In both these cases, all payments must be reported.

There are a wide range of forms beginning with 1099 and then a specific letter, each covering a different type of payment and with individual limits. Among the most common are 1099-B for the sale of securities and other financial assets such as commodities, for which all amounts must be reported; 1099-DIV for dividend payments, for which all amounts above $10 must be reported; 1099-G for payments from government such as unemployment compensation and state or local tax refunds, for which all amounts above $10 must be reported; and 1099-INT for interest income, for which all amounts above $10 must be reported.

If a business files more than 250 forms of the same type, such as 1099-MISC, in a year, it must file electronically to the IRS rather than on paper. This requirement only applies to that specific type of form. For example, a company that files 300 1099-MISC forms and 100 1099-DIV forms is only required to file the 1099-MISC forms electronically.

Companies that file a 1099-MISC in relation to an individual must also send a copy of the form to the individual. However, this form is purely for informational purposes. The individual is still responsible for listing all income on his tax return, regardless of whether he receives at least $600 in a year from one company and thus gets the 1099-MISC.