What this line means
Federal income tax that was withheld from your nonemployee compensation payments. This is almost always backup withholding at a flat 24% rate, which the payer is required to withhold when you did not provide a valid taxpayer identification number (TIN) or when the IRS notified the payer that you have a history of underreporting income.
Does this apply to you?
- You did not provide a W-9 with a valid Social Security number or EIN to the payer before they paid you
- You received a notice from the IRS that you are subject to backup withholding (B-notice)
- You had federal tax withheld from your 1099-NEC payments and Box 4 has an amount
Easy to overlook
Backup withholding is a credit, not an additional tax The amount in Box 4 is tax you already paid. It goes on Form 1040 line 25d as a payment toward your total tax liability. W-2 withholding goes on line 25a — different line, same effect. 1 If the 24% withholding exceeded what you actually owe, you get the difference back as a refund. IRS 1099-NEC instructions — Box 4
You can stop backup withholding by providing a correct W-9 If backup withholding started because you failed to provide a TIN, simply submit a completed W-9 to the payer with your correct Social Security number or EIN. The payer stops withholding on future payments once they have a valid W-9 on file. 2 General filing pattern — backup withholding on 1099 income
Watch out for this
Not claiming the backup withholding as a credit on your tax return. The payer reported the withholding to the IRS, and the IRS expects you to claim it. If you leave line 25d of Form 1040 blank, you lose the credit and effectively pay tax twice on the same income — once through the withholding and again through your return.
Footnotes
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IRS Instructions for Form 1099-NEC, Box 4. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099nec ↩
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IRS Instructions for Form 1099-NEC. See also IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf ↩