Do LLCs get a 1099?
Asked about 5,700 times a month on Google, across several phrasings. It comes up when businesses send out Forms 1099 at the end of January, and freelancers who work through an LLC want to know whether one should be coming. The other half of the question comes from the payer's side: do I have to send one to an LLC I hired?
The confusion is understandable. The rules for who gets a Form 1099-NEC are written around how a business is taxed, not what it is called, and an LLC can be taxed several different ways. Two LLCs with identical paperwork at the state can be treated completely differently on this question.
It also changed recently. The dollar threshold for reporting payments to contractors was $600 until 2025, and for payments made in 2026 it is higher. Anyone working from an older checklist will get the answer wrong in both directions.
Asked about 5,700 times a month on Google, across several phrasings.
@Andresplatts·
Usually yes. An LLC gets a Form 1099-NEC unless it has chosen to be taxed as a corporation. The IRS exemption covers payments to a corporation, "including an LLC" that is treated as one, so a single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship or a multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership should receive one when the payments are large enough.
Large enough is now $2,000. The IRS instructions say that for tax years beginning after 2025 the minimum reporting threshold increased to $2,000, and it may be adjusted for inflation starting in 2027. So for work paid during 2026, a business that paid your LLC less than $2,000 is not required to send a 1099-NEC, where under the old $600 rule it would have been.
The form is due on or before January 31. For 2026 payments, that means the forms arrive in early 2027.
How does the payer know which kind of LLC you are? From your Form W-9. The tax classification boxes on the W-9 are where an LLC tells the payer whether it is taxed as a corporation. If you check the wrong one, you will either get a 1099 you did not expect or miss one you should have had.
One exception runs the other way: payments for legal services are reportable even when the law firm is a corporation. And whether or not a 1099 arrives, the income is still taxable. The form is how the IRS cross-checks what you report, not what makes the income count.
