HB1464: HB1464 Labor, Department of; review and validate employment status of 1099 tax returns filed by employers on behalf of employees; establish a commission

Employers sometimes classify workers as independent contractors using IRS Form 1099 instead of as employees, which affects taxes, benefits, and labor protections. This bill would have Georgia's Commissioner of Labor set up a commission, working with the Department of Labor, to check whether these 1099 filings are accurate. Each year the commission would randomly select at least 50,000 Form 1099 tax returns filed by Georgia employers on behalf of workers and review them. If a filing correctly reflects the worker's employment status, the commission would validate it. If the commission finds an employer filed an invalid 1099 for a worker, it would connect that worker to whatever remedies are available under federal law. The bill does not specify funding, an effective date beyond standard enactment, or state-level penalties for employers.

• Creates a new commission under the Department of Labor to review the accuracy of 1099 tax filings employers make on behalf of workers.
• Requires the commission to randomly select and review at least 50,000 Form 1099 tax returns from Georgia employers every year.
• Directs the commission to validate 1099 filings that correctly report a worker's employment status.
• Requires the commission to connect workers to remedies available under federal law if their employer filed an invalid 1099 on their behalf.
• Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with these new requirements.

Georgia employers who file 1099 forms for workers, workers who may have been misclassified as independent contractors instead of employees, and the Department of Labor and its Commissioner, who must set up and oversee the new review commission.

Workers wrongly classified as independent contractors can miss out on benefits and protections that come with employee status. This bill would create a state process to catch misclassifications on a large scale and point affected workers toward federal remedies, though it relies on existing federal law rather than new state penalties.

• New O.C.G.A. § 34-2-17(a) requires the Commissioner of Labor to establish a commission working with the Department of Labor to annually review 1099 filings, selecting at least 50,000 at random each year.
• Subsection (b) directs the commission to validate 1099 filings that accurately report a worker's employment status and eligibility.
• Subsection (c) requires the commission to provide workers with all remedies available under federal law if an employer's 1099 filing is found invalid.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws, a standard closing provision.

1. 2026-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-25House Hopper (House)

• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-095)Primary sponsor
• William Werkheiser (R, HD-157)
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)
• Lisa Campbell (D, HD-035)
• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)

• worker misclassification
• 1099 contractors
• Department of Labor
• employment law
• tax filings