If you are an employee, your employer must give you a W-2 each year that reports your wages and the taxes withheld from your paychecks. If you are an independent contractor and a business paid you $600 or more during the year, that business must generally issue you a 1099-NEC. You never get both forms for the same work, because the form you receive depends entirely on how you are legally classified, not on what your boss decides to call you.
That single distinction drives almost every question people have about year-end tax forms. So before anything else, it helps to understand what each form means and who is actually responsible for sending it.
A W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) is issued to employees. It shows your total wages and, critically, the amounts your employer already withheld for federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. When you get a W-2, it means your employer treated you as an employee: they paid the employer's share of payroll taxes, withheld your share, and (depending on your role) may owe you overtime, minimum wage, and other protections under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
A 1099-NEC (Nonemployee Compensation) is issued to independent contractors and freelancers. It reports what a business paid you, but nothing is withheld. As a contractor, you are responsible for your own income tax and the full self-employment tax (both the employee and employer share of Social Security and Medicare). Contractors generally are not covered by FLSA wage protections, unemployment insurance, or workers' compensation.
There are other 1099 variants you might run into. A 1099-MISC covers things like rent, prizes, or certain other payments. A 1099-K comes from a payment platform (think a gig app, a marketplace, or a card processor) when it processes payments to you above a reporting threshold. For ordinary freelance work paid directly by a client, the form in question is almost always the 1099-NEC.
The $600 Threshold, Explained
The $600 rule applies only to 1099s, not W-2s. A business must issue a 1099-NEC to any non-employee it paid $600 or more for services during the calendar year. If a client paid you $599 or less, they are not required to send you a 1099-NEC at all.
Here is the part that trips people up: not getting a 1099 does not mean the income is tax-free. If a client paid you $400 for a project and never sent a form, you still legally owe taxes on that $400. The 1099 is a reporting document that helps both you and the IRS track income; the obligation to report and pay tax exists regardless of whether the paperwork shows up.
By contrast, there is no dollar threshold for a W-2. If you were an employee and earned even a small amount, your employer generally must issue a W-2. The thresholds that exist for W-2s relate to narrow situations (such as whether any tax was withheld), so as a practical matter, if you worked as an employee, expect a W-2.
Both the W-2 and the 1099-NEC share the same core deadline. Employers must furnish W-2s to employees, and businesses must furnish 1099-NECs to contractors, by January 31 following the tax year. So for income earned in one calendar year, you should have your form in hand by the end of January of the next year.
"Furnish" means sent, not necessarily received. If it was mailed on January 31 to your last known address, the business has met its deadline even if the envelope takes a week to reach you. Many employers and platforms now provide these forms electronically, so check any online payroll or contractor portal before assuming the form is missing.
How to Tell If You Were Really an Employee or a Contractor
This matters because employers sometimes misclassify employees as independent contractors to avoid paying payroll taxes, overtime, and benefits. Handing you a 1099 does not make you a contractor if the reality of your work looks like employment.
No single factor decides it, but agencies and courts look at the overall relationship. Signs you may actually be an employee include:
- Behavioral control: The company sets your hours, tells you how to do the work, and supervises the details rather than just the result.
- Financial control: You don't have a meaningful chance of profit or loss, you don't invest in your own equipment, and you can't realistically offer your services to the broader public.
- Relationship: The work is ongoing and indefinite, it's a core part of the company's business, and you receive things like a set wage rather than invoicing per project.
Different tests apply in different contexts. The IRS uses a "common law" control test for tax purposes. The Department of Labor uses an "economic reality" test under the FLSA to decide who is owed minimum wage and overtime. Many states use an even stricter standard, and this varies by state: some states apply a tough "ABC test" that presumes you are an employee unless the business can prove specific elements, which makes it much harder to classify workers as contractors. If you are unsure, your state labor department is the right place to ask about your state's rule.
What to Do If Your W-2 Never Arrives
If it is past January and you still don't have a W-2 from an employer:
- Ask your employer or payroll first. Confirm they have your correct address, and ask whether the form is available electronically. This resolves most cases.
- Check your final pay stub. It usually shows year-to-date wages and withholding, which you'll need if you have to reconstruct your income.
- Contact the IRS if it stays missing. If you still don't have it after following up, the IRS can contact the employer on your behalf. Have your wage and withholding estimates ready.
- File on time anyway. A missing form does not extend your tax deadline. If necessary, you can file using a substitute form that lets you report estimated wages and withholding based on your records.
An employer who withheld taxes from your checks but failed to issue a W-2, or who never actually deposited the withheld money, may be violating tax law. Keep every pay stub. If you believe you were treated as an employee but received a 1099 (or no form at all) when taxes should have been withheld, that's a classification and withholding problem worth pursuing.
What to Do If Your 1099 Never Arrives
For contractors, a missing 1099 is less of an emergency because you should already be tracking your own income.
- Reach out to the client. Confirm they have your correct mailing address and a current W-9 on file (the form you give a client so they can issue your 1099).
- Use your own records. Report all your self-employment income from invoices, bank deposits, and payment-app summaries even if no 1099 shows up. You are responsible for reporting the full amount.
- Don't wait on the paperwork to file. You can complete your return from your own books. If a late 1099 arrives showing a different number, reconcile it against your records.
The W-2-versus-1099 question is really a worker classification question, and classification controls far more than a tax form. Employees are covered by the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime rules, by anti-discrimination laws like Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) (enforced by the EEOC), and often by unemployment insurance and workers' compensation. Independent contractors generally are not.
So if you've been receiving 1099s for work that functions like a job, the stakes go well beyond a January form. Misclassification can mean unpaid overtime, denied benefits, and a surprise self-employment tax bill that should have been split with your employer. If that sounds like your situation, you can report suspected misclassification to the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, the IRS, or your state labor agency, and you may have a path to recover wages you were owed.
Quick Reality Check
Ask yourself: Did taxes come out of my pay? Do I control how and when I work? Could I lose money or work for other clients? Honest answers usually reveal whether a W-2 or a 1099 is the correct form, and whether the one you received matches your true status. When the form and the reality don't line up, that gap is exactly where your rights, and your potential remedies, come into play.
This article is general information to help you understand how these forms work, not legal or tax advice for your specific situation.
The law behind your rights at work
Whether you are an employee or a contractor is decided by federal and state tests, not by your job title or a 1099.
Key federal laws:
Where to get help or file a complaint:
Your state and city matter. Federal law is the floor — many states and cities require higher pay, more leave, and broader protections. Always check your state’s rules (and any local ordinances) in addition to the federal laws above. This is general legal information, not legal advice.
This article is general legal information, not legal advice, and may not reflect the most current law or the law in your jurisdiction. Laws vary by state and change over time. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney.
