Yes, if you paid one freelance editor $2,000 or more in 2026 for work on your channel, you send a 1099 to your video editor and file it with the IRS. Card and payment-app payments are reported by the payment company instead, and the editor's pay is a business expense on your Schedule C either way.

How much do I have to pay an editor before I need a 1099-NEC?

For payments made in 2026, you file a Form 1099-NEC when you pay one editor, designer or manager $2,000 or more during the year for services for your channel, up from $600 for 2025 payments, under the Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC. Nonemployee compensation, meaning pay for services to someone who is not your employee, has to be reported when all four of the IRS's conditions are met:

• "You made the payment to someone who is not your employee."
• "You made the payment for services in the course of your trade or business (including government agencies and nonprofit organizations)."
• "You made the payment to an individual, partnership, estate, or, in some cases, a corporation."
• "You made payments to the payee of at least $2,000 during the year."

My reading is that a channel you run as a business on Schedule C pays its editor for services in the course of your trade or business, and personal payments are not reportable. Hypothetically, three payments of $800 to the same editor during 2026 add up to $2,400, so the form is required even though no single invoice reaches $2,000.

"I paid my workers and subcontractors cash. no 1099 forms. Do I say yes or no to this question?"

— a business owner on the TurboTax Community

The question that owner faced is Schedule C line I, which asks whether you made any payments that require a Form 1099. In my reading, paying in cash or by check does not change the answer, because none of the four conditions is about cash or check.

In 2001, a tile installer paid his crew in cash and did not issue or file Forms 1099-MISC, the form used for contractor pay at the time. In Tax Court he claimed $18,600 paid to his crew and had no records of the payments. The court wrote, "Petitioner's failure to file information returns casts further doubt as to the compensation payments," and allowed no deduction for the $18,600, in a 2007 Tax Court summary opinion. A summary opinion is not precedent for other cases. A W-9 before the first payment, a record of each payment, and a filed Form 1099-NEC once the editor reaches $2,000 are your proof the pay went out.

What do I need from my editor before I pay them?

Get a signed Form W-9 from your editor before the first payment, because the W-9 gives you the legal name and taxpayer identification number, meaning the Social Security number or EIN, that the Form 1099-NEC needs. The general instructions for information returns suggest requesting a W-9 from a U.S. person, including a U.S. resident alien.

The Form W-9 also shows the editor's federal tax classification on line 3a. The classification box is what tells you whether the editor is a corporation, which matters because payments to a corporation generally do not need a Form 1099-NEC.

If the editor gives you no taxpayer identification number, you must apply backup withholding under section 3406, which means holding back 24% of each reportable payment and sending it to the IRS. Under the Form W-9 requester instructions, you may become liable for any uncollected amount if you do not withhold as required. My rule of thumb is to have the W-9 on file before the first invoice is paid.

When is the 1099-NEC due for 2026 payments?

The Form 1099-NEC for 2026 payments is due to the editor and to the IRS by Monday, February 1, 2027, because January 31, 2027 falls on a Sunday. For forms due in 2027, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the penalty at $340 per form not filed with the IRS and $340 per copy not given to the editor, each $60 if corrected within 30 days of the due date. The instructions require both the payee copy and the IRS filing by January 31, and a weekend or holiday moves the date to the next business day. You can e-file through the IRS's IRIS portal or file on paper.

Do I send a 1099 if I paid my editor by credit card or a payment app?

No, you do not send a Form 1099-NEC when you pay your editor by credit card or through a payment app. Payments made with a credit card or payment card, and third-party network transactions, meaning payments settled through a payment app or similar network, are reported by the payment company on Form 1099-K instead.

"Form 1099-K. Payments made with a credit card or payment card and certain other types of payments, including 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."

— Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (12/2026)

The editor's pay is still your expense on Schedule C line 11 whichever form reports it. The same instructions say payments to an editor who works through a corporation, including an LLC taxed as a C or S corporation, generally need no Form 1099-NEC. An LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship or partnership is not covered by that exception.

Where does my editor's pay go on my tax return?

The editor's pay goes on Schedule C line 11, contract labor, which covers payments to people you do not treat as employees for services to your business, per the Schedule C instructions. In my reading, the line 11 definition does not depend on whether a Form 1099-NEC was required. Line 11 does not include salaries and wages paid to employees, which the instructions send to line 26.

Hypothetically, in 2026 you pay a freelance editor $250 a video for 12 videos, or $3,000 by bank transfer. You also pay a thumbnail designer $150 a thumbnail for 10 thumbnails, or $1,500 by bank transfer.

If the editor's $3,000 had gone by credit card, you would send no Form 1099-NEC and the $3,000 would still go on line 11. Schedule C line I asks whether you made payments that require a Form 1099, and in this example the answer is yes. A creator who also gets a 1099-NEC from a brand sees the same form from the receiving side.

What if my editor lives outside the United States?

An editor who is not a U.S. person and does the work outside the United States gives you a Form W-8BEN instead of a W-9, and you do not file a Form 1099-NEC for them.

Publication 515 for 2026 says foreign persons who provide a valid Form W-8 are exempt from Form 1099 reporting, and the place where the services are performed determines the source of the income. The W-8BEN is the form a foreign individual uses to establish that foreign status. The pay is still contract labor on your Schedule C line 11.

N&T Tax & Advisory Group is based in Santa Clarita and prepares tax returns for content creators remotely anywhere in the US.