Tax Forms for Clients

Filing U.S. tax forms for payments made to your freelancer on Upwork depends on your freelancer’s employment classification. For your records, you can access your annual billing history by visiting Reports and then selecting Transaction History.

If you classify your freelancer as an employee and use Upwork Payroll, our staffing provider does the following:

• Employs the freelancer and assigns them to provide services to you

• Handles all of the withholding and payment of taxes

• Provides the freelancer with a W-2 form

If you classify your freelancer as an independent contractor, you do not file a 1099 form for your payments to them through Upwork. All freelancers submit their tax information for Form W-9 (if they are U.S. taxpayers) or Form W-8BEN (if they are non-U.S. taxpayers) to Upwork, and we file Form 1099-K for them when applicable.

Please note that this information is for general guidance only, and for specific tax advice, consult your local tax authority or a tax advisor.

Frequently asked questions

Why don't I have to send 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, or 1099-K forms?

When you pay your freelancer through Upwork, you actually pay Upwork Escrow Inc., which is our licensed escrow subsidiary. Upwork Escrow Inc. acts as a third-party settlement organization under   Internal Revenue Code Section 6050W . This means we (not you) are required to report the payments we remit to your freelancer to the IRS on Form 1099-K. Even if your freelancer does not receive enough payments for Upwork to file a 1099-K form for them, you still do not file 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC forms because you’re paying our third-party settlement organization rather than your freelancer.