1099-NEC Deadline for a Foreign-Owned LLC

A foreign-owned US LLC files Form 1099-NEC for US contractors paid $2,000 or more during 2026, unless it paid by card or payment network — the settlement entity reports those on Form 1099-K. The statutory date, 31 January 2027, is a Sunday, so Monday 1 February applies. Non-US contractors working entirely abroad get no form.

Two things changed for the January 2027 round, and most guidance written before 2026 still has both wrong. The nonemployee compensation threshold is no longer $600. And the rule that sends a foreign contractor's payment away from Form 1099 entirely is not about where your bank is — it is about where the person stood while working.

This post is about the January deadline specifically. For the payer-side documentation decisions behind it, read our guide to a US LLC paying foreign contractors; for what changes once you hire inside the United States, read hiring US employees and contractors. None of it changes your Form 5472 obligation, which you can start here.

When is Form 1099-NEC due for the 2026 tax year?

The statutory date is 31 January. The IRS Instructions for Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC, revision 12/2026 — the revision used to report 2026 payments in early 2027 — state that "Section 6071(c) requires you to file Form 1099-NEC on or before January 31" and that "you are required to furnish the payee statements and file with the IRS by January 31." One date covers both the copy to the contractor and the copy to the IRS.

31 January 2027 is a Sunday. The General Instructions for Certain Information Returns state that "if the regular due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday in the District of Columbia or where the return is to be filed, file by the next business day." Applying that rule to a Sunday 31 January gives Monday 1 February 2027. Confirm the printed date against the general instructions for 2026 returns when the IRS posts that revision.

What is the Form 1099-NEC reporting threshold for 2026?

$2,000, not $600. The Instructions for Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC direct you to "enter nonemployee compensation (NEC) of $2,000 or more" in box 1a, and state that "for tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments... increased to $2,000 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027."

So a US contractor you paid $1,400 across 2026 is below the threshold. The same contractor would have been reportable under the old $600 figure. The instructions do not name the law that made the change, and they signal that the number may move again with inflation from calendar year 2027 — so the 2027 threshold is not something to assume from the 2026 one.

Which contractor gets which form?

Contractor you paid in 2026	Where the work was physically done	Form for tax year 2026	Deadline
US person (individual, partnership, estate), $2,000 or more, paid by wire, ACH, cheque, or cash	Anywhere	Form 1099-NEC	Monday 1 February 2027
US person, paid by payment card or through a third-party payment network	Anywhere	Form 1099-K, filed by the payment settlement entity — not by you	Not your filing
US person, under $2,000 in total, with no backup withholding	Anywhere	None required	—
Any payee from whom you withheld under the backup withholding rules	Anywhere	Form 1099-NEC, regardless of the amount	Monday 1 February 2027
US corporation, or LLC treated as a C or S corporation	Anywhere	Generally none; legal services are an exception	—
Non-US person who gave you a valid Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E	Entirely outside the United States	None	—
Non-US person who gave you a valid Form W-8	Partly or wholly inside the United States	Form 1042-S, with withholding	Monday 15 March 2027

The table is a starting point, not a determination. Treaty positions, entertainers, and legal fees each have their own rule in the instructions.

What if you paid the contractor by card or through a payment platform?

Then the payment may not be yours to report at all. Under its "Form 1099-K" reminder, the Instructions for Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC state that payments made by card and certain third-party network transactions "must be reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity under section 6050W" and "are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC."

That carve-out matters more to a foreign-owned LLC than to most US businesses, because so many of them pay contractors on exactly those rails. A $9,000 year of design work charged to the LLC's card is a card transaction the settlement entity reports. The same $9,000 sent by wire from the LLC's bank account is a Form 1099-NEC you file.

Be careful with the boundary, because reading the carve-out too widely is how a required filing gets skipped. It covers payment cards and third-party network transactions as section 6050W defines them. A bank wire or an ACH transfer from the LLC's own account is neither, and nor is a cheque — those stay yours to report. Whether a particular platform is a payment settlement entity for a given payment is a question for the platform rather than an assumption to make, so ask every platform you paid contractors through in 2026, in writing, what it will file.

Why does a foreign contractor working abroad get no Form 1099?

Because the payment is not US-source income, and Form 1099-NEC is not the form for a foreign payee in any case.

The IRS page on the source of personal service income states that "the place, where the personal services are performed, generally determines the source of the personal service income, regardless of where the contract was made, or the place of payment, or the residence of the payer." A developer who sat in Lisbon for all of 2026 earned foreign-source income, even though a US LLC paid her from a US bank account in US dollars.

The Instructions for Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC then route foreign payees elsewhere: "use Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding, for payments to nonresident aliens." And the IRS Instructions for Form 1042-S limit that form to amounts "from U.S. sources" paid to foreign persons.

Put the two together. Foreign payee plus work performed abroad means the income is not US-source, so Form 1042-S does not reach it, and Form 1099-NEC was never the right form for a foreign payee. Nothing is filed. The misconception that a US LLC must issue a 1099 to everyone it pays is the single most common error in this area, and it leads owners to collect social security numbers from people who do not have them.

What documents the "no form" conclusion?

A Form W-8BEN, or W-8BEN-E for an entity, plus your own record of where the work was done.

The IRS Instructions for Form W-8BEN describe a form that establishes "that you are not a U.S. person," that goes "to the withholding agent or payer" and never to the IRS, and that should be provided "before the payment is made or credited to you." The same instructions note that "you may also be required to submit Form W-8BEN to claim an exception from domestic information reporting" — which is precisely the exception at issue here.

Validity matters. A W-8BEN generally remains in effect from the date of signature through the last day of the third succeeding calendar year, unless a change in circumstances makes its information incorrect — and the instructions add that "under certain conditions a Form W-8BEN will remain in effect indefinitely until a change of circumstances occurs." So a form signed in 2023 generally runs only to 31 December 2026, and a form signed in 2022 generally lapsed a year earlier, unless one of those conditions applies to it. Check the date on every W-8 in the file rather than assuming it is live.

Without a W-8, the instructions warn that "failure to provide a Form W-8BEN when requested may lead to withholding at the foreign-person withholding rate of 30%." An undocumented payee is a withholding problem, not a filing shortcut.

Must you file these returns electronically?

Probably, if you file ten or more of anything. The General Instructions for Certain Information Returns state that "if you are required to file 10 or more information returns during the year, you must e-file," and the threshold aggregates all information returns rather than counting each type separately. An LLC filing six 1099-NECs and five 1042-Ss is over the line.

Below ten returns, paper remains available. The general instructions revision we could read sets penalties for late or incorrect returns under the information-return penalty rules, but it covers 2025 returns and does not state the per-return amounts for returns due in 2027 — those amounts are adjusted annually, so check the current revision rather than relying on a figure from an older one.

Does any of this appear on Form 5472?

Only if the contractor is related to you. The January information returns and the April Form 5472 package answer different questions: 1099-NEC and 1042-S report what the LLC paid to outsiders, while Form 5472 reports what moved between the LLC and its foreign owner or other related parties.

An unrelated designer in Lisbon never appears on Form 5472 at all. Your own offshore development company does, because it is a related party — and in that case the payment is both a possible Part IV monetary transaction and, often, the reason an owner-transfer label matters. The two files should be kept separately and prepared separately.

The bottom line

Three dates and one question. Monday 1 February 2027 for Form 1099-NEC at the new $2,000 threshold, Monday 15 March 2027 for Form 1042-S where US-source income reached a foreign payee, and Thursday 15 April 2027 for the Form 5472 package. Two questions sort your contractors: where each one physically worked, and which rail you paid them on. Ask both before January, not during it.

Start your Form 5472 filing from $149. Standard turnaround is 5-7 business days; Express is ready for you to check and sign within 24 hours, 7 days a week, and every filing is reviewed by a tax accountant who holds an IRS PTIN.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 1099-NEC threshold still $600 for 2026?

No. The Instructions for Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC require box 1a reporting of nonemployee compensation of $2,000 or more for tax years beginning after 2025, and say the amount may be inflation-adjusted from calendar year 2027.

Do I issue a 1099 to a freelancer in another country?

Generally no. Form 1099-NEC is not the form for a foreign payee, and services performed entirely outside the United States are not US-source income, so Form 1042-S does not reach them either. Keep a valid Form W-8BEN on file instead.

What if my foreign contractor worked some days inside the United States?

Then part of the compensation is US-source under the place-of-performance rule, which brings Form 1042-S and withholding into scope for that part. Document the days and amounts and get advice before paying; a mixed-location contractor is not a do-it-yourself case.

Does a US contractor who works abroad still get a Form 1099-NEC?

Yes, if the payee is a US person, the total reached $2,000 in the course of your trade or business, and you did not pay by card or through a third-party payment network. The 1099-NEC question turns on the payee's status and the payment rail, not on where the work happened.

Do payments to a corporation need a 1099-NEC?

Generally not. The instructions exempt payments to a corporation, including an LLC treated as a C or S corporation, but the exemption "does not apply to payments for legal services" — attorney fees of $2,000 or more are reportable even to a law firm.

What happens if a contractor never gives me a TIN?

The instructions put reportable payments to a payee who has not furnished a TIN into backup withholding. Request the number on a Form W-9 in writing, keep the request, and withhold until you have it rather than filing a return with a blank.

Does filing 1099s mean my LLC skips Form 5472?

No. They are separate obligations. Information returns report payments to outsiders; Form 5472 reports transactions between the LLC and its foreign owner or other related parties, and it is still due Thursday 15 April 2027.

Educational content only; not tax or legal advice.