Short version: For payments made in 2027, a business files a Form 1099-NEC once it pays you $2,100 or more in the year for services. The IRS set that number on November 5, 2026. For 2026 it is $2,000, and through 2025 it was $600. Money under the line is still income.
Where the number comes from
The 2025 tax law raised the line from $600 to $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025. It also told the IRS to adjust it for inflation every year after 2026, rounded to the nearest $100.
The IRS's 2026 instructions for the form put it this way. The line "increased to $2,000 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027."
Now it has been. Revenue Procedure 2026-35, released with the IRS's yearly inflation numbers on November 5, says it in one sentence:
"For payments made in calendar year 2027, the reporting threshold for payments described in § 6041(a) is $2,100."
Which forms it moves
The law ties more than one line to that number. The line for pay for services, the kind on a Form 1099-NEC, follows "the dollar amount in effect for such calendar year under section 6041(a)." The IRS instructions use the same line on Form 1099-MISC for rents, prizes and awards, and other income.
So in 2027, the 1099-NEC line and those 1099-MISC lines move to $2,100. One part of the test for backup withholding, the 24 percent a payer holds back when it doesn't have your correct, certified taxpayer number, uses the same amount. It isn't the only part of that test.
Two lines don't move. A payment a business reports as a royalty goes on Form 1099-MISC at $10 or more, as before. And payments made by card or through a payment app or platform go on a Form 1099-K instead, under that form's own rules.
What it looks like on one deal
Say a brand pays you $2,050 for a set of posts, directly, not by card or through an app.
| Paid in | The line | Must that brand file a 1099-NEC? | Is the $2,050 income? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $600 | Yes | Yes |
| 2026 | $2,000 | Yes | Yes |
| 2027 | $2,100 | No | Yes |
The line counts what one business pays you over the whole year. Two payments of $1,100 from the same brand in 2027 add up to $2,200, which is over the line.
What decides the year is when the money is paid. A deal signed in December 2026 and paid in January 2027 falls under the 2027 line.
Fewer forms, the same tax
The line only decides whether a business files a form. It doesn't change what counts as income. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, inside the IRS, says it in one line: "Any income from NIL activities, including non-cash, is considered taxable income."
So in 2027, some deals that would have produced a 1099 in 2026 won't. The income is the same either way. Where a form does come, the business files it and sends your copy by January 31 of the next year.
What Leave does with this
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Questions people ask
What is the 1099-NEC threshold for 2027?
$2,100. Revenue Procedure 2026-35 says that for payments made in calendar year 2027, the reporting threshold for payments described in section 6041(a) is $2,100. For payments made in 2026 it is $2,000.
Does a deal signed in 2026 and paid in 2027 use the new line?
The IRS text ties the line to when the payment is made. The $2,100 applies to payments made in calendar year 2027, whenever the deal was signed.
Is money under $2,100 taxable?
Yes. The IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service says any income from NIL activities, including non-cash, is taxable income. The line only decides whether the business files a form.
Will the line keep changing?
The law adjusts it for inflation for every calendar year after 2026, rounded to the nearest $100. The IRS published the 2027 amount in Revenue Procedure 2026-35, with its yearly inflation adjustments.
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