In most cases, yes. If you rent a booth and you paid the salon owner $600 or more over the course of the tax year, you are required to file a 1099-NEC reporting that amount. The IRS treats booth renters as self-employed individuals, and self-employed individuals have reporting obligations for payments they make in the course of doing business.

The one major exception involves corporate entities. If the salon is set up as an S-Corp or C-Corp, you generally don’t need to issue a 1099 for the rent you paid. Payments to corporations are exempt from 1099 reporting in most situations. The issue is that most booth renters never ask how the salon is structured, so they have no way of knowing whether the exemption applies.

This is where a W-9 form matters. At the start of any booth rental arrangement, ask the salon owner to fill out a W-9. It tells you their legal name, tax identification number, and entity type. If the form shows sole proprietor, single-member LLC, partnership, or multi-member LLC, you need to file the 1099 once your payments reach the $600 threshold. If it shows a corporate entity, you’re exempt. Get this form before you pay your first month’s rent, not in January when you’re scrambling to file.

This requirement gets missed constantly in the salon industry. Many booth renters across the Bronx and NYC don’t realize they’re running a business in the eyes of the IRS. You aren’t just doing hair or nails. You are a self-employed individual paying rent, earning income, and responsible for your own tax filings. The salon owner you’re paying rent to probably isn’t going to remind you about this either.

The filing deadline is January 31 of the following year. You need to provide a copy to the salon owner and file a copy with the IRS by that date. If you paid $800 a month in booth rent for twelve months, that’s $9,600 reported on the form. Missing this deadline triggers penalties starting at $60 per form and increasing the longer you wait. If you need help getting these filed correctly and on time, 1099 preparation is straightforward and worth getting right.

Most salon owners in NYC operate as sole proprietors or single-member LLCs, so the corporate exemption won’t apply in the majority of booth rental situations. Don’t skip this because nobody else at your salon is doing it. The IRS matches 1099s to tax returns, and gaps in reporting can trigger notices for both you and the salon owner.

If you’re a booth renter and you’ve never filed a 1099 for your salon owner, you may need to go back and file for prior years as well. Getting caught up sooner is always better than waiting for a letter. A provider that understands small business bookkeeping in the Bronx can help you sort out what needs to be filed and make sure you’re set up correctly going forward.