The short answer
The worker fills out a W-9 and gives it to you. You issue a W-2 if they are your employee, or a 1099-NEC if they are an independent contractor you paid at or above the reporting threshold for the year. Nobody issues a W-9 to anybody.
The direction each form travels
This is the single most common mix up, and it is worth getting straight before the first payday.
- W-9: the worker completes it and hands it to you, so you have their taxpayer identification number on file.
- W-2: you issue it to an employee after the end of the year.
- 1099-NEC: you issue it to an independent contractor after the end of the year, once their total for the year reaches the reporting threshold.
Collecting it at the right moment
Collect a W-9 after you have hired someone, on your own paperwork, never through platform messaging and never as a condition of applying. A worker who is asked for a Social Security number before being hired has been told, in their own guides, to refuse.
Hand them the form, or send them your onboarding link. Keep the completed form in your own files. It does not go to the IRS, it just sits with your records until you need it in January.
The 600 dollar threshold
You issue a 1099-NEC to a contractor you paid 600 dollars or more during the calendar year. It is a total for the year, not per job, so six 100 dollar days add up to a form.
Under that, no form is required. You still deduct the expense, and the worker still owes tax on it. The threshold is about your paperwork, not about whether the money counted.
One thing that trips people up: payments you made through a payment app or a card can be reported by that platform instead, which changes who issues what. If most of your paying goes through an app, ask your accountant how they want that handled before January.
The January deadline
1099-NEC forms go to the worker and to the IRS by January 31. W-2 forms are the same date.
Late filing carries a penalty per form, and it climbs the longer you wait. The work to avoid it is one afternoon in January if you kept the W-9s as you went.
When a worker will not give you a W-9
It happens, and it is your problem more than theirs. Without a taxpayer number you are supposed to start backup withholding, which means holding back a percentage of their pay and sending it to the IRS yourself.
The practical answer is to collect it before the first payment rather than after. Once somebody has been paid and gone home, your leverage is zero.
Getting the classification right first
Which form you issue follows from whether the person was an employee or a contractor, and that is not your choice to make freely. It follows how the work actually ran.
If you set the hours, direct how the work is done, and supply the tools, you are probably looking at an employee, and a 1099 does not change that. See the guide on employee or independent contractor before you decide.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Rules differ by state and by situation, so talk to your own professional before you rely on it.