Form 1099-NEC for churches: guest speakers and contractors

Yes, churches have to file

The reporting rule applies to payments made in the course of a trade or business. The IRS instructions for Form 1099-NEC state that nonprofit organizations are considered to be engaged in a trade or business for this purpose, so churches and ministries are subject to the same requirement.

Who gets a 1099-NEC

Under the IRS instructions, a payment is reportable on Form 1099-NEC when all of these are true:

• The person is not your employee.
• The payment is for services performed for your church.
• The payee is an individual, partnership, or estate (and, in a few cases, a corporation).
• Your total payments to that payee for the year reach the threshold.

The threshold: $600 before 2026, $2,000 from 2026

A 2025 law (P.L. 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill) raised the reporting threshold. The IRS instructions now set it at $2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025, so payments made during 2026 (reported in January 2027) use the $2,000 threshold. Payments made in 2025 and reported in January 2026 still used the $600 threshold. The $2,000 figure may be adjusted for inflation beginning in 2027.

Count the year’s total per payee, not each check — three $800 honoraria to the same speaker in 2026 add up to $2,400 and are reportable.

Common church examples

Whether someone is a contractor or an employee depends on the working relationship, not the label you give it. A regular, scheduled worker may be an employee, whose pay goes on Form W-2.

• A guest preacher or visiting evangelist who is not on your staff.
• A pianist, organist, or sound technician paid per service as an independent contractor.
• A cleaning, landscaping, or repair business run by an individual or partnership.
• A bookkeeper or consultant you pay as a contractor rather than an employee.

Common exceptions

• Your employees — their wages go on Form W-2, not a 1099-NEC. This includes a pastor who is the church’s employee for income tax.
• Payments to most corporations (including an LLC taxed as a C or S corporation) — for example, an honorarium paid to a guest speaker’s incorporated ministry rather than to the speaker. Attorneys’ fees are an exception: they are reportable even when paid to a corporation.
• Totals for the year below the threshold.

Collect a Form W-9 before you pay

Ask every contractor for a Form W-9 before the first payment. It gives you their legal name, tax classification, and taxpayer identification number (TIN). If a payee does not provide a TIN, the payment is subject to backup withholding — currently 24% — and you must file a Form 1099-NEC for anyone you withheld from, regardless of the amount.

Deadline: January 31

Form 1099-NEC must be given to the payee and filed with the IRS by January 31 of the year after the payments were made. If January 31 falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

Year-end checklist

• Run a report of every non-employee payee and their total for the year.
• Flag totals at or above the threshold ($2,000 for 2026 payments).
• Remove payments to corporations (except attorneys) and to employees.
• Check that you have a W-9 on file for each remaining payee.
• Furnish and file Form 1099-NEC by January 31.

Using ChurchGeniusPro

In ChurchGeniusPro, each expense is recorded with its date, amount, category, vendor name, and an attached receipt, so the records behind the checklist above — who you paid, how much, and when — are already in one place.

Related

• Guide: Paying Your PastorHousing allowance and SE tax.
• Church Accounting SoftwareExpenses with vendor, category, and receipt.
• Church Payroll SoftwareW-2s for your employees.