1099 Filing for Landscaping and Snow Removal Services

Understanding 1099 Reporting for Landscaping and Snow Removal Services

Businesses that maintain outdoor property or a commercial site usually have to hire one crew for summer mowing and tree work, a second for winter plowing and salting, and a third for irrigation repairs, with each payment carrying its own reporting requirements.

Whether you are a property manager, an HOA, a commercial property owner, a landscaping company, or another business payer, the question stays the same: Which of those contractors requires a Form 1099?

This guide sets out the rules for 1099 filing for landscaping and snow removal services for the next filing season. It covers which payments qualify, how to classify seasonal crews, whether materials count toward the reporting threshold, how incorporated contractors are treated, state obligations, and the 2027 filing deadlines.

Do Landscaping and Snow Removal Contractors Need a 1099?

Form 1099-NEC is the form businesses use to report qualifying payments for services carried out by independent contractors. For work paid during 2026TY, the federal reporting threshold for nonemployee compensation is $2,000.

There are a few more conditions that have to line up before a payment is considered reportable:

That $2,000 threshold is applied per contractor. It is not measured on a job-by-job basis, so four separate visits can add up to a reportable amount.

Which Landscaping Services Trigger 1099 Reporting?

Independent landscaping contractors usually handle a wide range of outdoor work, such as:

Take a commercial property manager paying an independent contractor $800 a month for four months in a year. That comes to $3,200 for the year. Assuming the contractor is reportable and the other conditions hold, Form 1099-NEC may be required.

When Does a 1099 for Snow Removal Apply?

Service work done in winter, like snow removal, follows the same reporting logic as any other contractual service. Payments for services that may be reportable cover:

Paying an independent snow-removal contractor $2,000 or more for any of the services mentioned above may generally require Form 1099-NEC reporting. The businesses that commonly make these payments include:

Is Your Seasonal Crew a Contractor or an Employee?

Hiring someone for one season does not make them a contractor. That distinction is important for any business bringing on plow drivers or extra grounds staff during the winter season.

The IRS looks at how the working relationship actually operates to determine if the seasonal crew is a contractor or an employee :

Picture a snow-removal company working with a landscaping contractor who turns up in a truck and a machine they own, keeps a customer list that extends beyond you, decides their own route and hours, and absorbs their own fuel, salt, and maintenance bills. Those facts may point towards an independent-contractor status.

By comparison, a seasonal worker whose routes, tools, hours, and daily tasks are directed by you may be considered an employee. Employee wages are reported on Form W-2. Seasonality alone is never the reason to consider someone as a contractor.

OBBBA Changes for 2026TY Payments

For payments paid after December 31, 2025, the federal threshold on qualifying nonemployee service payments is $2,000. Previously, the threshold was $600. This change in reporting threshold is due to OBBBA.

The increase does not apply across every Form 1099 or every payment category. What it means in practice is that landscaping and snow-removal payers should track qualifying 2026 payments contractor by contractor, then apply the new threshold for the 2027 filing season.

When Must a Payer File Form 1099-NEC?

Payments for landscaping or snow-clearing generally become reportable nonemployee compensation when four conditions are met simultaneously.

For example, a commercial property management company engages an independent plowing operator and pays $2,800 by check. If there is no exemption, that $2,800 would generally be reported on Form 1099-NEC.

Form 1099-NEC Box for Reporting Landscaping and Snow Removal Payments

Form 1099-NEC Box 1a is where qualifying 2026TY payments for landscaping and snow removal services performed by a nonemployee are reported. The IRS instructions also confirm that the payment may include parts and materials supplied with the service.

Do Materials Count Toward the Form 1099 Amount?

Invoices from grounds and snow contractors routinely combine labor with supplies. When the contractor offering the services supplies their own materials, the IRS treats those parts and materials as part of the service payment.

For example, an independent landscaper bills $1,700 for labor plus $600 for mulch and other materials used on the job. The labor payment on its own is below the threshold. However, when the labor plus material is combined, the invoice amounts to $2,300. If the transaction is primarily for landscaping services with the materials incidental to them, the full amount is reportable.

When Is a Purchase Just a Purchase And Not A Reportable Payment?

A standalone purchase of goods is a different matter from paying a contractor for their service. Since no service was performed for you, there is no service payment to report.

Standalone purchases of this kind typically include:

Notice that several of these purchases appear in the materials section above. The item is not what decides if it’s reportable. Buying mulch from a garden supplier is a purchase. Buying mulch as part of a landscaper's bed-refresh job counts as part of that service, and the material cost may be included with the service payment.

Should You Get a W-9 From Landscaping Contractors?

Collecting Form W-9 from recipients is one of the first steps to take that lets you determine if the payment is reportable.

Form W-9 covers:

You can use this form to tell whether you are dealing with an individual or sole proprietor, a partnership, a C corporation, an S corporation, or an LLC that has elected some other tax treatment.

What Are the Form 1099 Rules for Landscapers That Are Incorporated?

Payments to C corporations and S corporations are largely outside the scope of Form 1099-NEC reporting. However, there is a catch where a business name reveals nothing reliable about federal tax classification.

A crew trading as Green Lawn Services LLC might be taxed as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a C corporation, or an S corporation. Four possibilities, one name on the invoice. Always check Form W-9 before you decide whether the corporate exemption applies.

What If You Pay a Landscaper by Credit Card?

How you make payments changes who reports the payment. Payment-card transactions and qualifying third-party network transactions generally fall to the payment settlement entity under Form 1099-K rules.

If you paid more than $20,000 with over 200 transactions for that year and the payment was processed by a TPSO, it is reportable on Form 1099-K. Payment card transactions do not have a minimum threshold.

Where those rules apply, the same payment should not appear on your Form 1099-NEC. Checking the payment channel early keeps one contractor payment from being reported twice.

Snow Removal Contractor 1099 Scenarios

Do State 1099 Requirements Follow the Same $2,000 Threshold?

Not all of the states follow federal thresholds. A payment can fall short of the federal trigger and still create a state reporting obligation.

The $2,000 threshold applies to federal reporting of qualifying 2026 nonemployee service payments. States set their own information-return requirements, which cover thresholds, filing systems, and deadlines.

2027 Deadlines for 2026TY Payments

Note: The original deadline, January 31, 2027, is on a weekend, which moves both due dates to the next business day.

How Tax1099 Handles Landscaping Contractor Tax Reporting

Seasonal work can spread contractors across properties, sites, and months. Tax1099 puts all the disconnected reporting data into one place.

FAQs