Do affiliates get 1099 forms?

Some do: in the United States, payments to an affiliate may need to be reported to the IRS, the U.S. tax agency, on a Form 1099, a tax form for payments other than wages. Whether a form is needed depends on how the affiliate was paid and whether the payments pass IRS reporting thresholds. For eligible U.S. affiliates paid through Autopay, Simple Affiliate's automatic payout option, Simple Affiliate facilitates two versions of the form, 1099-K and 1099-NEC, when those thresholds require them. This article explains the forms; it is not tax advice.

What you will learn

• What Forms 1099-K and 1099-NEC are
• Why not every affiliate gets a form
• What Simple Affiliate facilitates, and what stays with the merchant

What is a Form 1099?

A Form 1099 is one of a family of U.S. tax forms that report payments other than wages. The IRS receives a copy, and so does the person who was paid. Two forms matter most for affiliate programs.

Form 1099-NEC

Form 1099-NEC reports nonemployee compensation: payments a business makes for work by someone who is not its employee, such as an independent contractor. Affiliates are usually not employees of the stores they promote.

Form 1099-K

Form 1099-K reports payments made through payment card companies and third-party payment networks, the services that move money between businesses and people.

Why not every affiliate gets a form

Both forms are threshold-driven: a form is required only when the payments pass the applicable IRS reporting thresholds and transaction volumes. The IRS sets these thresholds, and they can change. An affiliate who earns a small amount in a year may not need a form at all.

Which form applies, if any, can also depend on how the affiliate was paid. That is why forms are not issued for every affiliate automatically.

What Simple Affiliate facilitates

For eligible U.S. affiliates receiving Autopay payouts, Simple Affiliate can facilitate Form 1099-K and Form 1099-NEC when the applicable transaction volume and IRS thresholds require them. Affiliates can pick up issued forms from their affiliate dashboard, the page where they see their referrals and earnings.

The facilitation covers payouts processed through Autopay only. Simple Affiliate does not guess whether a form is required from incomplete information, so the forms are only as accurate as the affiliate and payout details behind them.

What stays with the merchant

Your business's own tax compliance stays with you. In practice:

• Keep affiliate names, addresses, tax details, and payout records accurate
• Work out whether your business has federal, state, or local filing obligations beyond these forms
• Do not assume that payouts outside the eligible Autopay workflow are covered, because they are not
• Ask a qualified tax professional about your business's obligations or an affiliate's individual tax situation

If you are an affiliate

Look in your affiliate dashboard: issued forms appear there once the reporting requirements are met. If you expected a form and cannot find one, ask the store to check your payout method, account details, reporting year, and the thresholds. For questions about your own taxes, ask a qualified tax professional.

To read Simple Affiliate's answer on tax forms alongside its other common questions, visit the Simple Affiliate FAQ.