January 1099 season is painful for one reason: nobody collected the W-9s. That work is easy in November and miserable in January.
The deadline you are actually working towards
Form 1099-NEC is due to recipients and to the IRS by January 31. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so it moves to Monday, February 1, 2027.
That is four months away, which makes it feel like a January problem. It is not. It is a November problem, and the difference is whether the contractor still answers the phone.
Why January is hard
In January you are asking people for a tax identification number after you have already paid them and after the working relationship has ended. Some have moved. Some have changed entity. Some simply do not reply, because there is nothing left in it for them.
In November, they may still be working for you, and the request is routine. The same email gets answered in a day rather than chased for three weeks.
What to do this month
Three things, and none of them take long:
- Pull every vendor you have paid this year and flag the ones without a W-9 on file
- Request one from each, including the ones you are fairly sure are corporations — the exemption is a reason not to file, not a reason to skip the documentation
- Check the ones you do hold against what you actually paid: a name that does not match the TIN is the source of most IRS matching notices, and it is fixable now and awkward later
A habit worth building
The firms that never have a bad January have the same rule: no W-9, no first payment. Collecting it before the first cheque goes out costs nothing, because at that moment the contractor wants something from you.
Adopted mid-year, that rule fixes next January. Adopted now, it also cleans up this one.
Sources
Every date and requirement above comes from the agency that sets it. Rules change — check the source, or call us.
General information, not tax advice for your situation. Call us at (818) 698-8236 to talk about your own facts.