I received my 1099 for one of the companies I freelance for today. The amount on the 1099-NEC says $650, and I made about $10,000 in 2025 from the company. I asked my boss about it, and he called his mom who is a tax professional and has her own agency.
She said that I can report $650 as it's the companies mistake. She actually said that usually internal departments will make start 1099s for their freelancers at $650 because $600 is the cutoff for when they need to send a 1099, so most likely the company just never fixed the actual total, and sent the placeholder amount.
She said I could contact their HR and ask for a correction, but I don't need to. As long as I don't report that I made under $650, then it's fine.
I'm inclined to do what she's saying, but it stresses me out because I'm getting a lot of conflicting information online. I'm going to wait to see if I get any other forms from the company, but should I just report the $650.
Received a very wrong amount on a 1099-NEC
byu/Spiritual-Bar-3506 intax
Posted by Spiritual-Bar-3506
13 Comments
The rules say report all income. The irs checks that you’ve done so by matching the number on the 1099 to what you report. Do with that information what you will.
You’re required to report all of your income, irrespective of the amount on the 1099. Tell your bosses mom that it’s wrong in writing and have her prepare and knowingly sign the fraudulent return.
You need to report the full amount you made. Although the form is wrong you need to claim an the additional amount. But the Compnay should send you a corrected amount for the 10k
and what will you do when they find their mistake and reissue a corrected 1099? Sorry but I’ve had this happen to me before….luckily I had reported my actual income.
What payment methods? Was it all by cash/check/ACH/Zelle? If so, then this 1099-NEC is incorrect.
If by something like PayPal/Venmo, then the payment processor is responsible for 1099-K, and the original payer does NOT include those amounts on 1099-NEC.
It doesn’t really matter for you. It’s 100% their problem. If they’re examined, they’ll have an issue that they have to deal with. You can of course notify them if you want to be kind. Bottom line is, You report your actual income no matter what.
Yes, the 1099-NEC is wrong.
However, you still report the actual amount of income you received as a self employed worker.
>She said that I can report $650 as it’s the companies mistake.
100% false/wrong. I seriously doubt this is what a tax professional said. I believe you that its what you were TOLD that a tax professional said.
The mother of your boss is going to get you in trouble if that is the only income you are going to report. As most say you need to report all income. I will tell you I prepare 1099’s for our customers. Not all have been completed correctly the first time around. Some we don’t catch until the clients tax return is being worked on where they discover they gave me the wrong amount. I have amended as late as October. That is not to say they can be amended into the following year.
If you make a bank withdrawal and they give you $500 more than requested by mistake they will make you pay that back. Yes, you can keep it and hope they don’t find out, but they will.
When the company’s accountant tells them they can’t write off the labor costs unless the amounts are reported on a 1099 the suddenly the amended 1099’s start flying.
I question the judgement of anyone who calls themselves a tax professional that because the incorrect 1099 way under reports that’s all you have to report and don’t worry about it. Report it and wait to see if they catch it? Fine. Don’t worry about it? Nope.
You are required to report all of your income, whether or not you have a correct statement. I would contact the company and ask for a correction. If you don’t receive one you still need to report your full income. Otherwise YOU ARE CHEATING ON YOUR TAXES.
When people do this, they don’t realize they are affecting their retirement wages through social security. If you report less income than you made, you are reducing your retirement pay out.
The “tax professional” who said that is not a tax professional.
Report the amount you were paid. You are supposed to report ALL income, whether you receive a 1099 or not. Don’t commit tax fraud just because someone made an error. It’s a shame that a preparer told you to only report $650 – no reputable preparer would advise that.
Report the 1099 NEC and then the rest as income not reported on your schedule C if they’re not going to fix it. Anything else is at your own risk.