Mailing a W-9 or 1099 to a Contractor or Vendor

A W-9 collects a contractor's taxpayer information before you pay them; a 1099 reports what you paid them to the IRS and to the contractor themselves. Both are short, simple documents, which is exactly why it's easy to assume email is always the better way to send them. Often it is. But there are a few recurring situations where printing and mailing a paper copy is still the more practical — or more defensible — choice.

When physical mail is the right call

A contractor without a portal login is the most common case: not every vendor, subcontractor, or gig worker you pay is set up on an accounting platform that can deliver tax forms electronically, and chasing down a working email address for a one-time contractor is often more friction than printing a letter. Some vendors, especially older or more formal businesses, will also ask outright for a mailed original rather than a PDF — a preference worth just honoring rather than arguing with.

The third reason is less about the recipient and more about you: wanting your own documented mailing record. If a 1099 recipient later says they never received their form, or if the IRS ever questions whether you furnished a form on time, an email sent from your own inbox is weak evidence on its own — you're relying on your own records with no independent confirmation. A dated USPS mailing record is evidence that doesn't depend on your inbox.

The furnishing deadline, briefly

The IRS sets a deadline each year for furnishing 1099s to recipients — commonly around January 31 for the prior tax year, though the exact date and any associated penalties are set by the IRS and can change, so confirm the current-year instructions for your specific form rather than treating any date here as fixed. The practical implication for mailing is just timing: if you're printing and mailing forms yourself in that window, build in a few extra days for printing, mailing, and delivery rather than dropping something in the mail on the deadline itself.

Why a dated mailing record matters here

A Certificate of Mailing or a Certified Mail receipt both create a USPS-dated record that you handed a specific piece of mail to the Postal Service on a specific day. For a 1099, that record is useful in exactly two scenarios: a recipient disputes that they got their form, or the IRS questions whether you furnished it on time. In either case, being able to point to a dated, third-party record — rather than just your own sent-mail folder — is the whole value of paying for it. We cover the mechanics of each option in more depth on our Certificate of Mailing and proof of mailing pages, so we won't repeat that here — the short version is that Certified Mail is the more useful default because it also gives you a tracking number, not just a mailing date.

How to send a W-9 or 1099 through paperplane

paperplane prints and mails documents you already have — it doesn't fill out tax forms. Once your W-9 or 1099 is complete, upload it as a PDF, choose a recipient address, and pick a mail class:

For a handful of contractors, this is faster than printing, stamping, and dropping envelopes at your own post office — and if it's a 1099 you want a record of, Certified Mail takes the same amount of time to send as First-Class, just at a higher price for the tracking and mailing receipt.

This page is general information about mailing tax documents, not tax or legal advice. For deadlines, penalties, and filing requirements specific to your situation, check current IRS instructions for the form you're filing or talk to a tax professional.