1099 taxes for door-to-door reps.
As a 1099 door-to-door rep, nothing is taken out of your commission, so the taxes are yours to pay: regular income tax plus 15.3% self-employment tax, sent to the IRS in quarterly estimated payments instead of once in April. Business costs like your mileage come off your profit first. Track every mile, keep every receipt, and move part of every check into a separate account the day it lands.
What a 1099-NEC is.
A 1099-NEC is the form a company sends to report what it paid an independent contractor. It takes the place of the W-2 an employee gets, and the IRS gets a copy. It shows the total, with nothing withheld.
When one is due, the company has to send it by January 31. For 2026, that day is a Sunday, so the deadline is February 1, 2027. Starting with 2026, the form is required once the yearly total reaches $2,000, up from $600. Below that you may not get one. Either way, everything you made goes on your return, per the IRS (Form 1099-NEC instructions, IRS gig work guidance).
A commission rep usually files a Schedule C for the business and a Schedule SE for self-employment tax. Your profit, what you sold minus what you spent to sell it, is what gets taxed.
The 15.3% nobody withholds.
An employer splits Social Security and Medicare with a W-2 employee. As a contractor you cover both halves. The IRS sets self-employment tax at 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, figured on 92.35% of your net profit.
The Social Security part stops at a yearly cap the IRS sets at $184,500 for 2026. Medicare has no cap, and an extra 0.9% Medicare tax starts above a threshold set by filing status. You owe it, and file a return, once the net self-employment figure on your Schedule SE reaches $400 for the year.
You deduct the employer-equivalent half when you figure your adjusted gross income (AGI), so it lowers your income tax too. Source: IRS, self-employment tax.
Four dates a year.
The IRS wants the tax sent in as you go. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, you send estimated payments with Form 1040-ES four times a year. The periods are not even quarters, so put the dates in your phone now.
Tax year 2026
| Income earned | Due |
|---|---|
| January 1 to March 31 | April 15, 2026 |
| April 1 to May 31 | June 15, 2026 |
| June 1 to August 31 | September 15, 2026 |
| September 1 to December 31 | January 15, 2027 |
Tax year 2027
| Income earned | Due |
|---|---|
| January 1 to March 31 | April 15, 2027 |
| April 1 to May 31 | June 15, 2027 |
| June 1 to August 31 | September 15, 2027 |
| September 1 to December 31 | Mid-January 2028 |
You can skip the January 15, 2027 payment if you file your 2026 return by February 1, 2027 and pay everything due with it. When a date lands on a weekend or a federal holiday, it moves to the next business day. January 15, 2028 is a Saturday, so the last 2027 payment moves into the following week; the 2027 Form 1040-ES will print the exact day. The 2027 dates come from the IRS draft 2027 tax calendar, Publication 509.
Source: IRS Form 1040-ES (2026).
How to stay clear of the penalty.
Commission swings, so nobody guesses this year’s tax exactly. The IRS gives you a floor instead: you generally avoid the underpayment penalty if what you send during the year covers the smaller of 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s.
If the AGI on last year’s return was over $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), the second number is 110% instead of 100%.
In your first year on 1099, last year’s number may be small because your old employer withheld most of it. That makes the 100% route a low bar to clear, but the balance is still due in April. Source: IRS Form 1040-ES (2026).
What comes off before the tax.
A business cost has to be common in your line of work and helpful to it. For a door-to-door rep, these are the usual ones.
Business miles.
The IRS standard mileage rate for 2026 is 72.5 cents a mile for January through June and 76 cents a mile from July 1 on. Driving from one work location to another counts. Log the date, the miles and why, as you go.
Your phone, the business share.
You sell, log orders and take calls on it. The IRS says to split an expense that is partly business and partly personal and deduct the business part. Pick a fair share you can explain and use it all year.
Gear you buy for the work.
Shoes and weather gear built for long days outside are usually personal, but a tablet, a charger pack or a clipboard you buy for selling is a business cost.
Meals and lodging when you travel.
Gas and food in your home market are yours, and many of those costs are deductible. If the work takes you away from home overnight and you pay for lodging or meals yourself, those can count as travel. Keep the receipts. Travel and housing are worked out before every trip and put in writing.
Half of your self-employment tax.
You deduct the employer-equivalent half of your self-employment tax when you figure your adjusted gross income. Tax software does it for you, but it is why your income tax comes out lower than the raw math suggests.
The commuting rule.
Driving from home to a regular place of work is commuting, and commuting is never deductible, however far it is. Driving between work locations is deductible. If your home is your principal place of business, trips from home to the neighborhoods you work can count as well. To use the standard mileage rate on a car, you choose it in the first year you use that car for the business.
Sources: IRS standard mileage rates, IRS Publication 463, IRS Publication 334.
Keep it boring.
Keep four records all year.
- A mileage log, written the same day: date, start and end, miles, the reason.
- Every receipt for anything you claim, photographed into one folder.
- Your pay statements, so you can match them to the 1099, or stand in for it if none comes.
- Every estimated payment you send, with the date and the confirmation.
At RCLX, the statements are already kept for you. Every rep gets a portal that shows their installs, their pipeline and a pay statement for every payday.
Keep it all for at least three years after you file, which is the IRS general rule (IRS, how long to keep records).
Then the money. Open a second account and move a set share of every check into it the day it lands, before anything else touches it. When the quarterly date comes, the payment is already there. A slow week means a smaller check and a smaller set-aside, which is how commission works.
This is general information, not tax advice. Your situation is your own, so talk to a tax professional before you file.
Taxes are the smaller question.
Taxes come off whatever you make. What you make starts with where you sell. A home that only had cable has a real reason to listen when fiber is built on its street, and providers file where they offer fiber with the FCC.
See Where Fiber Is GrowingKnow your structure first.
Everything above assumes you know how you’re paid. At RCLX that part is short. Reps work as 1099 independent contractors on 100% commission, earned on completed installs. Commission is paid on the payday RCLX is paid for the install. Gas and food in your home market are yours, and many of those costs are deductible.
The full path from the door to the deposit is on how fiber sales pay works. Before you sign anywhere, hold the company to the checklist.
Use the Agency ChecklistWhat reps ask about taxes.
Will I get a 1099-NEC?
Only if the yearly total from one company reaches $2,000, starting with 2026 (it was $600 before). When one is due, the company has to send it by January 31; for 2026 that is a Sunday, so the deadline moves to February 1, 2027. Below the line you may get none, and the income is still yours to report.
What if I never get a 1099?
You still report the income. The IRS says all income is reported, whether or not a 1099 shows up. Your own statements and bank deposits are your record.
How much is self-employment tax?
It is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, figured on 92.35% of your net profit. The Social Security part stops at a yearly cap, $184,500 for 2026. You also deduct the employer-equivalent half of it.
Do I have to make quarterly payments?
If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, the IRS expects estimated payments during the year. For 2026 the dates are April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027.
What is the safe harbor?
You generally avoid the underpayment penalty if your payments during the year cover 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s, whichever is smaller. If the AGI on last year’s return was over $150,000 ($75,000 married filing separately), the second number is 110%.
Can I deduct driving from home to my turf?
It depends on where your business is based. Commuting to a regular place of work is never deductible. Driving between work locations is. If your home is your principal place of business, trips from home to a work location can count. IRS Publication 463 walks through each case.
How much should I set aside?
Enough to cover your income tax and the 15.3%, which depends on your bracket and your state. Pick a share with a tax professional, then move it into a separate account every payday so the quarterly payment is already sitting there.
How are RCLX reps paid?
Reps work as 1099 independent contractors on 100% commission, earned on completed installs.
This is general information, not tax advice. Your situation is your own, so talk to a tax professional before you file.
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Nothing on this page is a promise of a specific territory, earnings, or service at any address. Rates and dates are from IRS publications and change every year.