I received a Willa invoice. What now?

One of the many advantages of paying your freelancers through Willa is that you should not be required to file U.S. tax forms (W-2, 1099-MISC, etc.) for those freelancers. You should determine proper classification of all of your U.S.-based freelancers based on IRS guidelines and other federal, state, and local regulations.

If you classify your freelancer as an independent contractor, you don’t need to file a Form 1099-MISC for your payments to them through Willa. While all freelancers submit their information for Form W-9 (U.S.-based) or Form W-8BEN (international) to Willa, Willa doesn’t send freelancers Form 1099-MISC, either. We do file a Form 1099-K when applicable (to freelancers who are U.S. Persons and receive over $20,000 with more than 200 transactions through Willa).

W9 Form

For your records, you can request W9 forms by emailing us.

N.B. These forms are only for informational purposes and for your records. No action is required on your part regarding filing tax forms.

Why don’t I have to send a 1099-MISC?

Under the Internal Revenue Code Section 6050W, you don’t need to file Form 1099-MISC for freelancers paid through Willa because you’re not paying your freelancer directly.

When you pay your freelancer through Willa, you actually pay Willa Inc., which is our subsidiary. Willa Inc. acts as a “third party settlement organization” under Section 6050W. This means we (not you) are required to report the payments we remit to your freelancer to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Form 1099-K, in accordance with IRS regulations.

Even if your freelancer does not receive enough payments for Willa to file a Form 1099-K for them, you still don’t file a 1099-MISC because you’re actually paying a “third party settlement organization” rather than your freelancer.

No.

Willa Inc. has purchased your vendor's invoice. They remain your vendor. We do not represent our customers in any shape or form.

As such, your vendor remains an independent contractor doing work for you.

1. Leave your vendor name, categorization, contact information etc as is

2. Update their payment instructions according to the information found on the invoice you receive from us

Willa is an invoicing service for creative freelancers. Willa Inc. has purchased the invoice from your vendor, which is commonly known as invoice factoring.

As such we manage the receivables for your vendor, with a financial right over the factored invoices.

We do not represent your vendor in any other shape or form. Your vendor remains an independent contractor doing work for you.