If you pay a contractor more than $600 over the course of a year, you're required to file a Form 1099 with the IRS and send a copy to the contractor. That's if

If you pay a contractor more than $600 over the course of a year, you're required to file a Form 1099 with the IRS and send a copy to the contractor. That's if the contractor has provided you with a Taxpayer Identification Number (Social Security Number if it's an individual). However, if the contractor doesn't give you the number, you, as the person hiring the contractor, are required to withhold 24% of the payment and fork it over to the IRS (the contractor can get it back if there's an overpayment at the end of the year). That seems pretty similar.