Checkr Pay makes it easy to file 1099-NECs for your earners. Anyone with Read & Write permissions to the tax tab on the customer dashboard will be able to generate, review, and file 1099s. You can also use a batch file to upload any off-platform earnings.
Filing Eligibility
In order to file a 1099 using the Checkr Pay platform, an earner has to be in "active" status on the dashboard, and have received at least one payout through the Checkr Pay platform for our system to generate 1099s.
Additionally, any earner whose total earnings (both with Checkr Pay and off-platform) do not reach $600 will not receive a 1099, as $600 is the federal income tax minimum for issuing a 1099.
Note: Earners who you have loaded to the Checkr Pay platform but never received a payout, or earners who you need to file a 1099 for but were never added to Checkr Pay may still be eligible for filing with Checkr Pay, however there is a separate process to file for these earners. You can read about how to do that in this article.
Filing Taxes for Eligible Earners
Navigate to the "Taxes" tab on the left-hand side of the dashboard. You will be presented with a set of Checkr Pay earners, the calculated amount of payouts you made to the earner using Checkr Pay, any external earnings that you have added (see below), and the sum of these two numbers. Each earner will have a Status next to them as well.
The Tax Wizard
In the top right corner of the Taxes tab, you can start the Tax Wizard. For customers with more than ~20-40 earners, this is going to be a more efficient and useful tool for you to use. When you click the Tax Wizard button, you will be greeted with a pop-up that walks you through the 3 steps for tax filing.
- Step 1 - Update Worker Earnings
- Step 2 - Generate 1099-NECs
- Step 3 - File the 1099s with the IRS
Each of these steps can be accomplished for individual earners from the primary Table in the Tax module. However, the Wizard facilitates bulk actions and gives easy steps to follow as you move your earners through the filing process.
NOTE: You can skip or revisit steps if needed. You do not have to have your entire population ready with Step 1 before moving them to Step 2, for example.
Earner Filing Statuses
Earners can be classified in several different ways. Here are the statuses you will see on the Dashboard:
Status | Additional Detail |
---|---|
Not Started |
The earner meets eligibility criteria for filing via Checkr Pay. You may use the Tax Wizard or the dropdown menu at the right of the earner's entry on the Tax Table to initiate filing a 1099 for that earner. |
Ineligible | An earner is not eligible for filing via Checkr Pay. This could be because total earnings are less than $600, or because we have been unable to verify the earner's Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). The Status column will give further details. Refer below for possible actions to correct the situation if you need to file for that earner. |
Created |
A 1099 has been created for the earner. You should review the information in the form for accuracy before sending to the IRS. |
Filed |
A 1099 has been filed with the IRS for this earner, and is pending review. Check back over the next several days for whether the IRS accepted the 1099 form. |
Accepted |
The IRS has accepted the earner's 1099. You have no further action required for this earner. |
Rejected |
The IRS has rejected this earner's 1099. You will need to review the reason and possibly take corrective action. |
Queued |
This 1099 has been Created and selected for filing. It will be filed with the IRS when our filing job picks it up for processing. |
Failed |
While Checkr Pay was attempting to generate your Earner's 1099 an unexpected error occurred. Checkr Pay Support has been notified and will be investigating. Unless you see this status for more than a few hours (during business hours) no action is required from you. |
Adding Previous Income
You can add payout amounts for earners that were paid off of Checkr Pay to your total for the earner prior to filing. This feature is particularly useful in instances where you may have been a Checkr Pay customers for less than a full calendar year - where you may have had payouts on two or more platforms. Consolidating all the earnings on one platform lets you issue a single 1099 and makes your earner's tax filing much easier!
You can add previous income in two different ways:
Adding Previous Income using a Batch File
You can choose to add previous income to earners "in bulk". To do this, you will need to generate a Checkr Pay Taxes Batch File. The template for the file can be found in the Batch File Templates article. Once you have generated the batch file you can choose to upload it into one of two places...
The Tax Wizard
You can upload your CSV file from the Tax Wizard
- Click on Tax Wizard in the upper right of the Taxes screen and open Step 1.
- From there, click on Choose File under the Upload CSV File header
- Select your CSV File
- Make sure you click on the Add External Earnings button!
- After the file is processed, click Complete
From the Taxes Main Screen
You can optionally load your CSV File from the Taxes main screen as well.
- From the Taxes main screen, click on the Bulk Update Tax Info button in the top left
- From there, click on Choose File under the Upload CSV File header
- Select your CSV File
- Click on Upload and Apply Changes
Note: Although the CSV Example on both screens are slightly different, they are actually variants of the same file. The CSV format is documented in full on our Batch File Templates article.You can upload the CSV generated from that template to either location successfully.
Important: The Batch File requires you to specify the Checkr Pay ID for your earners. If you do not have that value immediately available, you can export your workers from the Workers Tab in the Checkr Pay Dashboard. Simply scroll down to the pane displaying the set of loaded workers and click on Generate CSV.
Adding Previous Income using the UI
If you choose to use the UI to adjust earner previous income, you will need to do this individually for each earner. From the main Taxes table, search for the earner. Click the three dots on the right side of the earner's entry in the table and select either Add External Earnings or Override Total Earnings.
- Add External Earnings - Causes Checkr Pay to report both the payouts made on Checkr Pay and the payout total you enter here. Thus, Checkr Pay Earnings + This Amount = Total Earnings.
- Override Total Earnings - Causes Checkr Pay to ignore payouts from Checkr Pay and only report what you enter. Only use this option if you have a full tabulation of payouts for Checkr Pay and any other platform.
Selecting one of the two options causes a pop-up to appear were you can enter the earner's external (or overridden) earnings amount. Be sure to click on Save External Earnings after entering the information into the screen.
Generating 1099s
An Earner must be in Not Started in order to generate a 1099. If an Earner is Ineligible, you need to address the underlying cause before moving on to generate a 1099.
Once you have any previous income accounted for, you can generate the 1099 forms for your earners. This can be done individually on the Tax module table by finding the earner, clicking on the action menu on the right side of the row, and selecting Generate 1099-NEC.
You can alternatively use the Tax Wizard to review all Eligible earners (these will be Earners who have status of Not Started in the Taxes table) at the same time and perform a submission for all of them at the same time. To do this, open the Tax Wizard and select Step 2, Generate 1099-NECs. From this screen, you will be able to review the total amounts for each earner. Once you are comfortable with their amounts, click on Generate 1099-NECs.
Note: The Generate 1099-NEC process is an asynchronous process. This means that Checkr Pay will kick off a job in the background to generate the 1099s. Checkr Pay will send you an email after the job has processed to give you an all-clear that you can move on to the next step.
Filing 1099-NECs with the IRS
The final step after generating 1099 forms is to transmit them to the IRS. This step actually does two different things... first, it sends the confirmed 1099 to the IRS for filing purposes. Second, it makes the 1099 form available to your earner on the Checkr Pay Wallet for them to download.
Similar to Generating 1099s, you can File 1099s either individually, or via the Tax Wizard.
Once you find an Earner who has had their 1099 created (designated by the Created status in the Taxes table), you can click on the action menu at the right of the earner's row in the Tax table. From there you can select View PDF to download a copy of the earner's 1099, or select File 1099 to send a copy of the 1099 to the IRS.
Alternatively, you can bulk file all Earners with a Created status through the Tax Wizard. Open the Tax Wizard and select Step 3. Here you can view the Earners who have a 1099 generated, and do a final review prior to filing with the IRS. When ready, click on the File Now button.
Final Notes
Congratulations! You've sent your tax reporting to the IRS. We encourage you to come back to the Taxes tab over the next couple of weeks to check on the status of your Earners filings.
In some instances the IRS may reject your Earner's 1099. In these cases, it's very likely there is a name mismatch or other issue. If you have a question about a specific Earner's case, please feel free to reach out to Checkr Pay Support for additional information.
Note: Checkr Pay cannot provide tax advise to your organization. We recommend that you work with your tax accountant if there are specific questions about taxes or processes you should be following.