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16 Replies New MemberYou can certainly use the Adobe (.pdf) blank 1099-MISC form available from the IRS.gov website to print Form 1099-MISC and give copies B & C to your independent contractors , as well as others to whom you need to legally issue 1099s, such as attorneys, etc.
However, Form 1099-MISC Copy A, which should be kept by you and then filed along with Form 1096 (summary sheet) to the IRS, is printed with special red ink, meant to be read by optical character recognition equipment. That red ink won't be able to be printed (duplicated) on your typical office printer (see Copy A of form in the link above for an illustration).
That said, you can obtain compliant Form 1099-MISC blank pages (complete with the special red ink) from most any local office supply store for very little money. All of the national chains (Office Depot, Staples, etc.) also carry this standard product, with a multi-document packet typically costing between $5 and $10. You may want to telephone ahead or check their website to verify current inventory, as the product is very popular at this time of year, as you may well imagine.
As a final point, we do need to be especially careful about what we call our employees (W-2) vs. independent contractors (Form 1099-MISC). The IRS is particularly watchful about this topic because of the related Social Security and Medicare tax issue. We don't want to confuse the two categories, because doing so can lead to substantial tax and / or legal penalties; and we certainly wouldn't want that to happen.
Hopefully this answer has been useful to you, and thank you for asking this important question.
