If you pay contractors, freelancers, or other businesses for services, January 31 is circled on your calendar whether you know it or not. That's the deadline to send 1099-NEC forms to your contractors and file them with the IRS. The good news: for the first time in decades, the rules got easier. The big change: $600 is now $2,000 For years, you had to issue a 1099-NEC to any contractor you paid $600 or more. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that threshold rose to $2,000