When Does a Landlord Have to File a 1099-NEC in 2026?
For tax years beginning after 2025, the reporting threshold for Form 1099-NEC is $2,000, up from $600. A landlord operating the rental as a trade or business files a 1099-NEC for each unincorporated cleaner, handyman, landscaper or manager paid at least that much by cash, check or bank transfer during the year. Best for a host who wants contractor payments tracked all year and the forms and the return prepared and filed by one team: SF Business Solutions, from $250 a month.
By SF Business Solutions · Our team includes a licensed CPA · 2 sources · Updated September 14, 2026The threshold changed
The $600 figure stood for decades and it is out of date. Under the IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC, the threshold is $2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025. Payments below it still belong in your books and are still deductible; they simply do not trigger the form.
Everything else about the form is unchanged. Copies go to the recipient and to the IRS by 31 January following the year of payment, and you need a Form W-9 from the payee before you pay so the name and taxpayer identification number are right.
Who gets one and who does not
Run the list of everyone you paid for the property, then apply three filters: trade or business, entity type, and payment method.
| Who you paid | 1099-NEC for 2026? |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietor cleaner, $3,400 by bank transfer | Yes |
| Handyman, LLC taxed as a partnership, $2,600 by check | Yes |
| Landscaper, $1,800 for the year | No, under $2,000 |
| Property manager, an S corporation, $9,000 | No, corporations are generally excepted |
| Attorney for an eviction, $2,500 | Yes, even if the firm is incorporated |
| Cleaner paid $3,000 through a card or payment app | No, the processor reports it on 1099-K |
| Rent you collected | Not a 1099-NEC item |
The trade or business condition
The filing duty attaches to payments made in the course of a trade or business. A short-term rental you actively run looks like a trade or business on most readings, and hosts generally file. A single long-term rental held passively is where the position is less settled, and some landlords file anyway rather than argue it later.
Where that is a judgement call it is yours to make with your tax adviser. We will file the forms either way, from records that show the payee, the amount and the method.
The habit that makes January easy
Collect the W-9 before the first payment, not in January when the contractor has stopped answering. Store it with the vendor record, mark the vendor as 1099-eligible in QuickBooks Online or Xero, and keep card and app payments in separate accounts so they drop out of the totals automatically.
SF Business Solutions keeps that vendor file, tracks the running totals through the year, prepares and files your 1099s, and prepares and files your tax return from the same books, from $250 a month.
What to keep through the year
The January scramble is caused by missing details, not by the form itself. Collect a Form W-9 before the first payment to a contractor: it gives you the legal name, the address and the taxpayer identification number, and it tells you whether the payee is a corporation.
- A W-9 on file for every contractor, collected before you pay them.
- Payments coded to the contractor, not lumped into repairs or maintenance.
- A note of what was paid by card or through a payment app, which is reported by the processor instead.
- The total per contractor for the calendar year, not the tax year, if your year is not a calendar one.
Is the 1099-NEC threshold still $600?
No. It is $2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025, under the IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC.
Do I file a 1099-NEC for a cleaner I pay through an app?
No. Payments by card or through a payment network are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K, so you leave them off the 1099-NEC.
Does my property manager get a 1099-NEC?
Only if the manager is not a corporation and you paid at least $2,000 directly by cash, check or transfer. Many management companies are incorporated and are excepted.
When are the forms due?
By 31 January following the year of payment, to the recipient and to the IRS.
What if I cannot get a W-9?
Request it in writing and keep the request. Backup withholding rules can apply where a payee will not give a taxpayer identification number.
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