Who sends you a 1099, and which type
A client generally sends a 1099-NEC once they’ve paid you $2,000 or more for tax year 2026 ($600 or more in a year for tax year 2025). If you got paid through a payment app or online platform instead, that income might show up on Form 1099-K, which reports gross payment volume rather than your net profit, from the platform rather than from the client directly.
It’s possible to receive both for related work, so keep your own records to make sure you’re not double-counting or under-reporting.
The threshold doesn’t set your tax bill
The threshold dollar amount only decides when a client is required to issue a form. It doesn’t determine whether you have to pay taxes or not. Once your net self-employment earnings hit $400, you owe self-employment tax on that money, 1099 or not.
| Form | Who sends it | When it’s triggered |
|---|---|---|
| 1099-NEC | The client who paid you | $2,000 or more in nonemployee compensation for 2026 ($600 or more for tax year 2025) |
| 1099-K | A payment app or platform | Sales for goods or services over $20,000 and more than 200 transactions in the year |
Source: Internal Revenue Service
If a 1099 is missing or wrong
If a form doesn’t show up, report the income from your own invoices and bank records anyway. The obligation doesn’t disappear with the form. If a 1099-NEC lists the wrong amount, contact the client and ask for a corrected version rather than guessing at the right number.
Reporting the income: Schedule C and Schedule SE
Freelance income typically flows onto Schedule C, where you report your business profit or loss, then onto Schedule SE to calculate self-employment tax. That tax is 15.3% of 92.35 % of self-employment net earnings, covering Social Security and Medicare.
For example, say you earn $48,000 freelancing and claim $1,800 in eligible business expenses:
$48,000 − $1,800 = $46,200 reported on Schedule C
The SE tax calculation would be:
$46,200 x 0.9235 x 15.3% = $6,528 in self-employment tax
