Who Gets a 1099 for 2026? The New $2,000 Line, From Your Statements

Every January, small business owners do the same thing. They open a year of bank statements and try to remember who they paid. The handyman. The bookkeeper who helped in March. The designer paid by Zelle.

This year one number changed. For years the line was $600. For 2026, it is $2,000. That means fewer forms for many owners, but you still have to know who crossed the line. This guide shows how to find out from your own statements.

The IRS says it plainly: "For payments made before 2026, the reporting threshold is $600. For payments made in 2026, the reporting threshold is $2,000. For payments made after 2026, see Pub. 1099 for the inflation-adjusted reporting threshold."

For payments made in 2026, businesses generally use Form 1099-NEC to report $2,000 or more paid to a person during the year for services by a nonemployee, including parts and materials, or for legal services. The exceptions below still apply. Other payments to attorneys, such as settlement proceeds, can follow separate Form 1099-MISC rules.

The number can change again for 2027, because it will be adjusted for inflation.

The IRS instructions list payments that generally don't need a 1099-NEC, even when they are over the line. Among them:

• Payments to a corporation, including an LLC taxed as a C or S corporation. (There are exceptions, such as lawyers.)
• Payments for merchandise, phone, freight, storage and similar items.
• Wages to employees. Those go on a W-2.

You must also file Form 1099-NEC if you withheld federal income tax under the backup withholding rules, regardless of the payment amount.

This one surprises people. The IRS instructions say payments made with a credit card or payment card, and certain third-party network payments, "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."

In plain words: if you paid a contractor with your business credit card, the card company handles the reporting, not you. Payments by check, bank transfer or ACH are the ones to look at closely. Ask your tax preparer how your payment apps are treated.

The ordinary federal deadline to file Form 1099-NEC with the IRS and give the recipient their copy is January 31 of the following year. The IRS also says that when a due date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it moves to the next business day. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so the next business day is Monday, February 1, 2027. Check the date with your tax preparer, since you also need each person's details (usually from a Form W-9) before you can file.

Download your 2026 business bank statements, and your card statements too, so you can see everything in one place.

By hand: go page by page. Write down every payment to a person or small business, with the date and amount.

With LedgerLens: upload the statements (PDF, CSV, Excel, OFX, QFX or QBO). You don't connect your bank. Open Statement list, choose Custom, set Show to Money out, and set the dates from January 1 to December 31, 2026. You get one list of every payment, in date order.

This is the step that takes the time. LedgerLens doesn't add up totals by payee for you. Here are two ways to do it.

Free, one name at a time. On the Transactions page, search for a payee's name. The search looks at the merchant name, the statement description and your notes. Set the dates to 2026 and add up the payments you see.

Faster, with the Excel download (Plus). Download your Custom list as an Excel file. The file includes these columns, among others:

• Merchant and Description, to see who you paid
• Amount
• Check Number, when your statement printed one
• Statement, the file each payment came from, so you can set your card statements apart
• Notes

In Excel, select the table and insert a PivotTable. Put Merchant (or Description) in Rows and Amount in Values. Each payee's 2026 total appears on one line. Sort largest first. Use the totals as a review list, not a list of forms to file. Keep payment methods separate: card payments and covered third-party network payments do not belong in your Form 1099-NEC total. Check the payee, type of payment and any backup withholding before deciding which forms are needed.

Some payees show up under slightly different names, like "ZELLE TO J SMITH" and "ZELLE J SMITH." Check all payee names for different spellings and combine entries that belong to the same payee before relying on a total.

Back in LedgerLens, open each payment you want to check on the Transactions page and type a note in the Notes box, such as "plumber — check payment method and 1099 rules." Notes show in your lists and downloads, so next January you start ahead. You can also mark payments as Business on each transaction, and filter the Transactions page to Business only.

Bring the list with each payee's total, how you paid them, and their W-9 if you have it. That gives your preparer the records needed to check which forms you must file.

Uploading statements and making the list is free on the Starter plan. Downloading the list as an Excel file needs Plus: $12 a month or $120 a year.