How the tool decides
- Personal payments are never reportable: 1099 rules apply only to payments made in the course of a trade or business (rental activity counts as a business for this purpose).
- Card and third-party-network payments are reported by the payment settlement entity on 1099-K, not by you. Paying a contractor by card removes your 1099-NEC obligation for that payment.
- Corporations are exempt from 1099-NEC/MISC reporting, with two exceptions the tool applies: attorney fees and gross proceeds paid to attorneys, and medical and health-care payments, are reportable even to corporations.
- Tax-exempt organizations and government entities are exempt payees for 1099-NEC/MISC.
- Foreign persons are outside the 1099 regime; they document on a W-8 and U.S.-source payments are reported on 1042-S. See the foreign vendors guide.
- Employees get a W-2; paying an employee for employee work on a 1099 is misclassification, not a reporting choice.
- Goods and accountable-plan reimbursements are not reportable payments.
- Thresholds: $600 for services, rent, prizes, medical and attorney fees paid in 2025; $2,000 for those paid in 2026; $2,100 for those paid in 2027 (Rev. Proc. 2026-35). Royalties $10. Interest $10, or the general amount ($600 for 2025, $2,000 for 2026) for interest paid in the course of business other than by a bank. Gross proceeds paid to attorneys (1099-MISC box 10) stay at $600. Dividends $10. Backup withholding applies to a reportable payment when the payee has not given a TIN. Every threshold by year is in the threshold lookup. See the 2026 figures.
The answer is the federal rule for the common case. Unusual arrangements (payments to a deceased employee's estate, fishing-boat crews, direct sales, crop insurance, and others) have their own boxes and rules; Publication 1099 and the form instructions list them, and the payment type finder covers them by keyword. Each form has its own page here: 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-K, and the rest.