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A W-9 and a 1099 are two ends of the same process. The vendor fills out a W-9 to give you their legal name, address, and taxpayer identification number when you first hire them. You use that information at year-end to prepare a 1099, the form that reports to the IRS how much you paid them. In short: the W-9 comes in from the vendor at the start, and the 1099 goes out to the vendor and the IRS at the end.
W-9 vs 1099 at a glance
| Form W-9 | Form 1099-NEC / 1099-MISC | |
|---|---|---|
| Who prepares it | The vendor or contractor (the payee) | Your business (the payer) |
| Who receives it | You keep it on file; it is not sent to the IRS | The vendor and the IRS |
| When | At the start of the engagement, before you pay | After year-end, by the January filing deadline |
| Purpose | Collect the vendor's legal name, address, and TIN | Report total nonemployee payments for the year |
| How often | Once per vendor (refresh if their details change) | Every year the vendor crosses the threshold |
What is a W-9?
Form W-9 is the request for taxpayer identification number that a US business sends to any vendor, contractor, or freelancer it plans to pay. The vendor completes it with their legal name, business name if different, federal tax classification, address, and Social Security number or Employer Identification Number. You keep the completed W-9 in your vendor file; you do not send it to the IRS. Its whole job is to make sure that when you have to issue a 1099 later, you have the exact name and TIN the IRS expects, so the filing matches and does not trigger a mismatch notice.
What is a 1099?
A 1099 is an information return that reports money you paid to someone who is not your employee. For most vendor payments the relevant form is the 1099-NEC, which covers nonemployee compensation such as payments to independent contractors and service providers. The 1099-MISC still covers other categories like rent and certain other income. You prepare the form using the details from the vendor's W-9, send one copy to the vendor and one to the IRS, and file by the deadline in January following the tax year. The vendor uses it to report the income on their own return.
What is the 1099-NEC threshold for 2026?
For payments made in the 2026 calendar year, the 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC reporting threshold rises from $600 to $2,000, and it will be indexed for inflation in later years. This came out of the 2025 tax law changes and applies to payments made after December 31, 2025. The threshold is measured per vendor on a cumulative basis: if you pay one contractor $2,000 or more in total across the year for services, you must file a 1099-NEC for them. Pay a different contractor $1,500 total and you do not have to file for that one. The practical AP change is simple: update the alert in your system that flags reportable vendors from $600 to $2,000.
Do I need a W-9 from every vendor?
Collecting a W-9 from every vendor and contractor before you pay them is the safe practice, even though the higher 1099 threshold means you will file fewer forms. The reason is timing. You often do not know at the start of the year whether a vendor will cross $2,000, and chasing a W-9 in January after the work is done, when the vendor has moved on, is how businesses miss filings and face penalties. Getting the W-9 up front during vendor onboarding means the data is ready whenever a vendor crosses the threshold. Some payees, such as corporations for most services, will not need a 1099, but you still want the W-9 on file to prove why you did not file one.
Is a W-9 the same as a 1099?
No. A W-9 is an input and a 1099 is an output. The W-9 is a one-time collection form the vendor gives you so you have their correct tax details, and it never goes to the IRS. The 1099 is a yearly reporting form you generate from that data and send to both the vendor and the IRS. Confusing the two is common, but the direction is what matters: the W-9 flows into your records, the 1099 flows out to the government.
Who fills out a W-9 and who fills out a 1099?
The vendor fills out the W-9, because only they know their legal name, entity type, and taxpayer identification number. The paying business fills out the 1099, because only you know the total you paid that vendor across the year. This split is the source of most confusion, so it helps to remember that whoever gets paid signs the W-9, and whoever does the paying files the 1099.
How accounts payable should handle W-9s and 1099s
Treat the W-9 as a gate in your onboarding: no vendor gets set up for payment until a valid, signed W-9 is on file, with the TIN verified against IRS records to avoid year-end mismatches. Store the form with the vendor record so it is easy to find, and flag which vendors are 1099-reportable so the year-end run is a report, not a scramble. Capturing the details cleanly is easier when you can pull the data straight off each vendor document instead of rekeying it. Keep your 1099 reporting tied to accurate payment totals, and the two forms work as they should: the W-9 feeds clean data in, and the 1099 goes out correct the first time. Handling this inside your accounts payable software keeps the tax data attached to every payment automatically.
The bottom line
The W-9 is what you collect from a vendor up front to get their tax details; the 1099-NEC is what you file at year-end to report what you paid them. For 2026 the filing threshold is $2,000 per vendor, up from $600, but you should still collect a W-9 from every vendor at the start so you are never missing data when a filing is due.