Glossary · Content creators
1099-MISC
Form 1099-MISC is the IRS form a business files to report miscellaneous payments it made to you, such as royalties, rents, prizes and awards.
Updated · Sources
When a 1099-MISC is filed, for 2026 payments
- $2,000
- of rents, prizes and awards or other income a business pays you in a year generally means it must file.
- $10
- of royalties a business pays you in a year generally means it must file.
A 1099-MISC reports the income a business pays you that is not pay for services, which goes on Form 1099-NEC. The payer adds up what it paid you in the calendar year to see whether a threshold is crossed. The $2,000 threshold is new for 2026: payments made in 2025 were still reported from $600. From 2027 payments, it is indexed for inflation, as the 1099-NEC threshold is.
For creators, the best-known 1099-MISC is the one Google sends US creators for their YouTube earnings. Google reports a non-US creator’s earnings on Form 1042-S in its place.
Income from your creator business belongs in the gross receipts on Schedule C, whichever form reports it. There it counts toward both income tax and self-employment tax. Your costs are not on the 1099-MISC, so you deduct them on Schedule C.
The form gained two boxes for 2026. Box 13a holds any cash tips paid to you, and box 13b the Treasury code for the occupation you earned them in. Those two boxes back up a claim for the deduction for qualified tips.
Sources
- 26 U.S.C. § 6041, Information at source
- IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. December 2026)
- IRS, 2025 Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040)
- YouTube Help, U.S. tax requirements for YouTube earnings
Reviewed and updated September 2026. General information, not advice for your situation.