W-9 collection

Collect it before you pay, not after

A board that waits until January to figure out who needs a 1099 usually finds a landscaper or handyman who has stopped answering the phone. The fix is to build the request into onboarding: before the first check goes out to any contractor, hand them a W-9 and get it back before the invoice is paid, not after.

"Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification"

Source: Publication 1099 (2026), General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, IRS

The form is short: it asks for the payee's name, business name if any, tax classification, and taxpayer identification number. Without it correct on file, the association cannot report the payment accurately at year end.

Which payments trigger the requirement

Not every payment needs a W-9 on file, but any payment likely to require a Form 1099 does. The dollar threshold that triggers reporting changed recently and can change again, so treat any repeated vendor relationship (landscaper, painter, management company) as one worth collecting a W-9 for up front.

"For tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments required to be reported on certain information returns and/or perform backup withholding on those payments increased to $2,000 and will be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027."

Source: Publication 1099 (2026), General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, IRS

If a vendor will not give you a valid ID

Sometimes a contractor refuses to provide a taxpayer ID, or the IRS later notifies the association that a number on file is wrong. In either case, IRS guidance requires the association to withhold 24% from reportable payments to that payee and remit the withheld amount using Form 945, separate from the association's own income tax return.

This is why collecting the W-9 first matters: it is far easier to ask for a corrected form before the money moves than to claw back 24% from a check that already cleared. Source: Am I required to file a Form 1099 or other information return?, IRS.

Once you cross ten returns, e-filing is mandatory

Good W-9 records also determine how the association files. A payer that must file ten or more information returns of any kind in a year has to e-file all of them, and the count adds every return type together, not just one form's total. Nine 1099-NECs and six 1099-INTs is fifteen returns, which crosses the line even though neither type alone reaches ten. Source: Publication 1099 (2026), IRS.