Tax Forms and 1099 Filing

Collect W-9 and W-8 tax forms from your participants, hold rewards and payouts until they're cleared, and file 1099 forms — all inside GrowSurf.

This is not tax advice. GrowSurf provides tooling to help you collect tax forms and prepare filings. You (the program owner) remain the payer of record and are responsible for your own tax obligations. Always confirm your requirements with a qualified tax professional.

What it does

GrowSurf helps you stay compliant when you pay and reward participants:

• Collect tax forms from your participants — W-9 (US persons) and W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E (non-US persons/entities) — through a secure, hosted form, right from the GrowSurf window or GrowSurf-hosted referral portal.

• Hold rewards/payouts for a participant until their tax form is complete.

• File 1099 forms at year-end for the recipients with rewards and payouts that need them — prepared, reviewed, and filed without you ever leaving GrowSurf.

GrowSurf never stores your participants' Social Security numbers or tax IDs — those are held securely by our IRS-authorized e-file partner, which may also run TIN matching.

How it works

1. Turn on the tax reporting feature in Settings > Tax Center. You'll be asked to enter your business's legal name and EIN (the "payer" shown on your participants' 1099 forms), and authorize GrowSurf to e-file on your behalf.

2. When a participant in one of your programs becomes eligible for a reward/payout, GrowSurf asks them to complete their tax form on a secure hosted page (inside your GrowSurf referral portal, on both web and mobile).

3. GrowSurf holds rewards/payouts for that participant until their tax form is complete.

4. At year-end, GrowSurf prepares the 1099 data (1099-NEC for affiliate program commissions; 1099-MISC for referral program rewards), shows you the forms and a flat per-form filing fee, and — once you approve and the fee is charged to your card on file — files them for you. You and your participants get the filed forms.

The secure hosted page a participant opens to complete their W-9 or W-8 form — branded with your business name and served right inside your GrowSurf referral portal (web and mobile).

Using the GrowSurf PayPal integration to send payouts? Payouts settled through PayPal, a payment card, or a wallet provider like XTRM fall under that processor's own 1099-K reporting duty — so you do not issue a 1099 for those (this includes the cash, prepaid cards, and gift cards sent through wallet providers like XTRM). Your filings cover what the processor doesn't: direct payouts like ACH, wire, or check, plus gift cards sent through a vendor like Tango Card — these are taxable to the recipient but aren't reported by any processor (the gift-card vendor doesn't issue a 1099 either). GrowSurf tracks all of this and flags what belongs on a 1099-NEC (affiliate commissions) or a 1099-MISC (referral rewards).

Which 1099 form each payout gets

Two things decide the form: what the payment is (an affiliate commission vs. a referral reward) and how it's sent. GrowSurf tags each one automatically — here's every combination at a glance:

Earning	When it counts	How it's paid	Goes on
Affiliate commission	When the commission is approved	ACH, wire, check, or gift card (Tango Card)	1099-NEC
Affiliate commission	When the commission is approved	PayPal, card, or XTRM wallet	Nothing — the processor files a 1099-K (so GrowSurf skips it to avoid double-counting)
Referral reward	When the reward is fulfilled	Gift card (Tango Card), ACH, wire, or check	1099-MISC
Referral reward	When the reward is fulfilled	PayPal, card, or XTRM wallet	Nothing — the processor files a 1099-K (so GrowSurf skips it to avoid double-counting)
Referral reward	When the reward is fulfilled	Coupon, account credit, or manual reward	Flagged for your review (not auto-filed)

The short version: affiliate commissions go on a 1099-NEC, referral rewards go on a 1099-MISC — however they're paid — except anything settled through PayPal, a card, or the XTRM wallet, which the processor reports on its own 1099-K (nothing for you to file). Only approved earnings count toward these totals; pending, reversed, or refunded amounts drop out automatically.

Who needs what: tax forms by location

GrowSurf looks at your location (the payer) and your participant's location (the payee) to ask for the right form and report correctly.

Your business (payer)	Your participant (payee)	Form collected	What gets filed
United States	United States	W-9	If you paid $600+ (2025) / $2,000+ (2026 onward): 1099-NEC for affiliate commissions, 1099-MISC for referral rewards ("other income") — whichever way they're paid (ACH, wire, check, or gift card). These are taxable to the recipient and not reported by any processor. Payouts settled through PayPal, card, or a wallet provider like XTRM (including prepaid cards) fall under that processor's own 1099-K duty — nothing for you to file on those. 24% backup withholding applies if a valid tax ID isn't provided.
United States	Outside the US	W-8BEN (individual) or W-8BEN-E (business)	If the work is performed outside the US, generally no US filing and no withholding — the W-8 simply documents the participant's foreign status. (US-source income may require a 1042-S; check with your tax advisor.)
Outside the US	Anywhere	Optional	A non-US business generally has no US 1099 obligation. Your requirements are typically local/VAT, not US tax forms.

EU VAT: For affiliate programs, GrowSurf can also collect each participant's VAT registration number and print it on the self-billed invoices GrowSurf generates for commission payouts. This is separate from US tax forms.

How reward values are determined

To know when a participant crosses a reporting threshold, GrowSurf needs a dollar value for each reward. For affiliate program commissions that's just the commission amount. For referral program rewards — which may be gift cards, account credits, discounts, or custom rewards — GrowSurf figures out the fair-market value automatically wherever it can, and only asks you to enter a value as a last resort.

GrowSurf resolves each reward's value in this order:

Priority	Reward type	Where the value comes from
1	Cash payout (PayPal, etc.)	The actual amount paid
2	Gift card (Tango Card, etc.)	The gift card's face value
3	Commission	The commission amount earned (affiliate programs only)
4	Fixed coupon or account credit	The discount/credit amount (e.g. a $20 credit) (referral programs only)
5	Percentage discount or "free month"	Calculated from the plan/subscription price in your billing integration (Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly) — e.g. one free month on a $49/mo plan = $49
6	Custom / non-cash reward (swag, points)	A fair-market value you set on the reward

Each reward also has a "tax reportable" setting. Cash and gift cards are reportable by default; a discount or credit a participant gets on their own subscription is usually treated as a rebate and is not reportable by default. You can adjust this per reward.

For affiliate programs, only approved rewards and commissions count toward a participant's reported total. Pending, reversed, or refunded amounts are excluded automatically.

For double-sided rewards, GrowSurf lets you monitor tax compliance for referred friends as well (for example, if they receive a gift card or cash). However, if the friend’s reward is given as an instant (upfront) discount, tax tracking for that portion is automatically disabled.

For dynamic rewards, where reward amounts are different based on specific attributes of the referrer or referred person, GrowSurf will automatically figure out the fair-market value from the connected integration.

How to set up

Setup details will be finalized as the feature is released. The flow below is the intended experience.

Step 1: Visit Settings > Tax Center and enable the tax reporting feature. Then enter your business's legal name and EIN (this is the "payer" shown on your participants' 1099 forms) and authorize GrowSurf to e-file on your behalf.

Step 2: Optionally, update when participants need to submit their tax info. By default, it is set to when they cross the threshold but you can change it to before their first reward/payout.

Step 3: For each of your programs, set a fair-market value on any custom/non-cash rewards that GrowSurf can't value automatically (you'll see a prompt for any that need one).

GrowSurf will then request tax forms from participants as they become eligible, hold rewards and payouts until forms are complete, and let you review and file your 1099s at year-end.

Filing your 1099s at year-end

When the tax year closes, GrowSurf walks you through preparing and e-filing your 1099s in Settings > Tax Center > Filing. Pick the program and tax year, then follow four steps:

1

Authorize e-filing

Confirm that GrowSurf can prepare and e-file IRS 1099 forms on your behalf — you remain the payer of record.

2

Review recipients

GrowSurf lists every participant who crossed the reporting threshold and the reportable amount for each. Review the list, then approve the batch to continue.

3

Pay & file

GrowSurf charges a flat fee per form, billed to your card on file in your GrowSurf account. Nothing is transmitted to the IRS until the charge succeeds.

4

Track filing status

Follow transmission and IRS acceptance, the amount charged, and a payment reference. Your recipients get online access to their filed forms.

If you have multiple programs, make sure to complete the steps above for each one. If there is a recipient that is a participant in multiple programs, they will receive a 1099 for each program.

Pricing

GrowSurf charges a flat $4 per 1099 form, billed to your card on file. Nothing is transmitted to the IRS until the charge succeeds.

Important notes

• GrowSurf does not store participant tax IDs — they're held by our IRS-authorized e-file partner, which may perform IRS TIN matching.

• The year-end filing fee is charged separately to your GrowSurf card on file, and filing only happens after that charge succeeds.

• You remain the payer of record and are responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of your filings.

• Tax features are provided "as is" through a third-party, IRS-authorized e-file provider. GrowSurf is not liable for IRS or state penalties, interest, or rejected or late filings. See our Terms of Service.

• Filing fees are non-refundable once a form has been transmitted, as a form cannot be un-filed. See our Payment and Refund Policy.

• If a form can't be filed — for example, a recipient's tax ID (TIN) is rejected — the per-form fee for that form is credited back to your GrowSurf account (applied toward your next invoice) rather than refunded to your card, so you don't pay for forms that aren't filed.

• Tax thresholds and rules change — GrowSurf keeps the reporting thresholds configurable. Confirm your specific obligations with a tax professional.