Do You Send a 1099 to an LLC Partnership? W-9, Deadline, Penalties

Yes. If your business paid an LLC that’s taxed as a partnership $600 or more for services during the year, you need to send it a Form 1099-NEC. Partnerships don’t qualify for the corporate exemption that lets payers skip the form, and the IRS treats a multi-member LLC as a partnership by default unless it has elected corporate treatment.¹

Why an LLC Partnership Gets a 1099

The IRS doesn’t care that an entity is organized as an LLC under state law. What matters is how the LLC is classified for federal tax purposes. A multi-member LLC that hasn’t filed Form 8832 or Form 2553 defaults to partnership classification, and partnerships are not corporations.¹ That means the corporate exemption from 1099 reporting doesn’t reach them.

The rule is the same one that applies to a traditional partnership or a sole proprietor: once your payments for services to a single payee hit $600 in a calendar year, you owe the IRS a Form 1099-NEC and the payee a copy.² The LLC partnership files its own Form 1065 and issues K-1s to its members, but that internal reporting has nothing to do with your obligation. The 1099 gives the IRS a way to match what the partnership reports as income against what payers say they sent it.

One boundary worth stating: the 1099-NEC is for services, not products. If you bought $5,000 in supplies from an LLC partnership, no form is required. If you paid the same partnership $5,000 to install those supplies, that’s reportable. Payments for merchandise, telephone, freight, and storage are excluded.³

Confirm Classification With a W-9 Before You Pay

You cannot tell an LLC’s tax classification from its name, its website, or its state registration. The only reliable way to know whether the corporate exemption applies is to collect a completed Form W-9 before you cut the first check.⁴ Make this part of vendor onboarding.

Line 3a of the W-9 asks the payee to check a box for its federal tax classification. An LLC taxed as a partnership checks the “LLC” box and enters “P” in the classification field. An LLC taxed as a C corporation enters “C”; one taxed as an S corporation enters “S.”⁵ If you see “LLC” with a “P” next to it, that’s your signal to plan on issuing a 1099-NEC. Use the partnership’s Employer Identification Number from the W-9 when you prepare the form.

The IRS offers a free TIN Matching program through its e-Services portal that lets you verify a payee’s name and TIN before filing.⁶ Catching a mismatch early avoids penalty notices later.

Two Payments That Get a 1099 Even When the LLC Is a Corporation

If the W-9 comes back showing the LLC has elected C or S corporation treatment, you generally skip the 1099. Two categories override that exemption and require a form regardless of corporate status:

Attorneys’ fees paid to any entity, including a corporation. Fees for legal services go in box 1 of Form 1099-NEC; gross proceeds paid to an attorney go in box 10 of Form 1099-MISC.²
Medical and health care payments, reported in box 6 of Form 1099-MISC, which must be filed even when the provider is incorporated.³

For an LLC taxed as a partnership, these overrides don’t change anything. You already owe a 1099-NEC for any $600-plus service payment. The overrides matter only when you’re tempted to skip a form because the LLC is a corporation.

When the LLC Won’t Give You a W-9

If an LLC partnership refuses to hand over a W-9, you can’t just skip the 1099. Federal law requires you to begin backup withholding at 24% on all reportable payments to that vendor.⁷ You deduct that amount from each payment and remit it to the IRS using Form 945.⁸

Backup withholding also applies when the IRS notifies you that a TIN doesn’t match its records. Most vendors provide the W-9 once they understand the alternative. The W-9 you collect is also your best defense if the IRS later questions your filing decisions, because it documents the payee’s self-reported classification and TIN.

Deadline and Filing Method

Form 1099-NEC is due to both the IRS and the recipient by January 31 of the year following payment.² There is no automatic extension. If January 31 falls on a weekend, the deadline shifts to the next business day.

If you file 10 or more information returns of any type during the year, you must file electronically. The count combines all form types, so four Forms 1098 plus six Forms 1099-NEC puts you at the threshold.⁹ The IRS’s IRIS Taxpayer Portal is free, handles up to 100 returns at a time, and lets you download payee copies for distribution.¹⁰ Getting an IRIS Transmitter Control Code can take up to 45 business days, so set it up well before January.

What It Costs to Skip the Form

The IRS imposes per-form penalties for 1099s that are late, incorrect, or not filed. For returns due in 2026, the amounts are:¹¹

Filed within 30 days of the deadline: $60 per return
Filed after 30 days but by August 1: $130 per return
Filed after August 1 or not filed at all: $340 per return
Intentional disregard: $680 per return with no maximum cap

Deciding to skip a required 1099 to an LLC partnership sits squarely in that last row if the IRS treats it as intentional. Collecting a W-9, reading line 3a, and filing a single form is a much cheaper answer.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Limited Liability Company (LLC)
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification
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Internal Revenue Service. Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024)
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Internal Revenue Service. Federal Agency TIN Matching Program
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3406 – Backup Withholding
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 945
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Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
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Internal Revenue Service. E-file Information Returns With IRIS
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Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties