Form 1099-MISC

The boxes, and what changed for 2026

The December 2026 revision of Form 1099-MISC is the one used to report 2026 payments in early 2027, and it changed the layout. Three boxes are new, and each one breaks out part of box 3 rather than reporting a separate payment. Box 13a is cash tips, box 13b is the payee’s Treasury tipped occupation code, and box 14 is qualified overtime compensation. To make room, nonqualified deferred compensation moved from box 14 to box 15, and the state boxes are now 16 to 18. Excess golden parachute payments left the form entirely and are now reported in box 3 of Form 1099-NEC.

The thresholds sort into four groups. At $2,000 or more: rents (box 1), prizes, awards and other income (box 3), medical and health care payments (box 6), crop insurance proceeds (box 9), section 409A deferrals (box 12, which is optional) and nonqualified deferred compensation (box 15). At $600 or more: gross proceeds paid to an attorney (box 10) and cash paid for fish purchased for resale (box 11).

At $10 or more: royalties (box 2) and substitute payments in lieu of dividends or tax-exempt interest (box 8). At any amount: fishing boat proceeds (box 5), and federal income tax withheld under backup withholding (box 4).

Box 7 is different. It is a checkbox, not an amount, for a payer that made direct sales of at least $5,000 of consumer products for resale. The same sales can go in box 2 of Form 1099-NEC instead.

1099-MISC, 1099-NEC or 1099-K

Three forms meet around a Stripe business, and the payment decides which one applies.

Form 1099-NEC is for services. The instructions say that payments to independent contractors generally go in box 1a of Form 1099-NEC, and that applies to lawyers too: “Attorneys’ fees of $2,000 or more paid in the course of your trade or business are reportable in box 1a of Form 1099-NEC.” Form 1099-MISC is for the rest of the list. Money paid to an attorney that is not a fee for services to you is gross proceeds in box 10 of Form 1099-MISC. The IRS example is an insurance company that pays a claimant’s attorney $100,000 to settle a claim.

Form 1099-K sits above both. The instructions say payments “made with a credit card or payment card and certain other types of payments, including third-party network transactions, must be reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity” and “are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC.” If you paid a landlord with your company card, the card side reports it, and you don’t issue a 1099-MISC for that rent.

Corporations are a partial exception. Payments to a corporation are generally not reportable, but the instructions keep four on the form even when the payee is incorporated: medical and health care payments in box 6, substitute payments in box 8, attorney gross proceeds in box 10 and cash for fish in box 11.

When a Stripe Connect platform files a 1099-MISC

On Stripe Connect, the form depends on who controls pricing and what the payment was for. Stripe says it issues 1099-K forms “for connected accounts where Stripe controls the pricing or for transactions where the connected account pays fees directly to Stripe.” Where the platform controls pricing, “the platform is responsible for filing any relevant 1099 forms,” and Stripe adds that “the applicable form depends on the type of payments you make to your connected account.”

For most marketplaces of contractors, that form is the 1099-NEC. The 1099-MISC fits platforms whose payouts match its boxes rather than pay for services. Examples are a platform that pays property owners rent, one that pays creators royalties on licensed content, and one that pays out contest prizes. Whether a given payout is rent, a royalty or compensation for services is a question for your tax advisor, and the answer decides the form.

In Stripe, the choice is a setting. The Connect tax form settings set a default form type for the platform. For 1099-MISC, a Payments box setting decides where the amount prints: Stripe’s example is choosing “3 Other income” to put the amount in box 3. A CSV import can override that box for specific forms, or switch a single account’s form type between 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC and 1099-K. Stripe applies the $2,000 IRS threshold for most 1099-MISC payments, $10 for royalties and payments in lieu of dividends or interest, and any amount for fishing boat proceeds.

States add their own layer. Stripe supports filing in every state that requires 1099-MISC forms and has no withholding-based filing requirement, for an extra 1.49 USD per form filed with a state. Several states use lower thresholds than the IRS, including California at $600.

A worked example for 2026

A stock-music platform on Stripe Connect controls its pricing and pays producers through Connect transfers. In 2026 it pays one US producer $1,450 in royalties on licensed tracks. The same producer also wins its annual remix contest, which pays a $1,800 prize.

The royalties clear the $10 threshold easily, so the platform reports $1,450 in box 2. The prize, which would go in box 3, is under the $2,000 threshold for 2026, so it does not require a form on its own. In 2025 the same prize would have crossed the $600 threshold that applied then.

Two things would change the answer. If the platform had applied backup withholding because the producer never provided a TIN, a 1099-MISC would be required regardless of amount, with the withholding in box 4. And if the producer lived in a state with a lower threshold, such as California, the state filing could still be required.

Due dates for the 2026 tax year

The 1099-MISC has two deadlines, one for the payee and one for the IRS. Payee statements are due January 31. Publication 1099 sets February 15 instead when amounts are reported in box 8 or box 10. The IRS copy is due February 28 on paper, or March 31 if you file electronically.

When a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the IRS moves it to the next business day. For 2026 forms, January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so the payee deadline moves to Monday, February 1, 2027. February 28, 2027 is also a Sunday, which moves the paper filing date to March 1. Stripe’s 1099-MISC documentation gives the same February 1 date for delivering forms to payees and March 31 for IRS filing, and recommends filing in its Dashboard by January 22, 2027.

E-filing is close to mandatory. Since 2024, a business that files 10 or more information returns in a year, counting all types together, has to file them electronically. A platform that issues a few 1099-MISC forms alongside its 1099-NEC forms is usually past that line.

The Form 1099-NEC runs on a stricter clock. Its IRS copy is due January 31 on paper or electronically, with no extension to February 28 or March 31, so a platform filing both forms has two IRS dates to track.