HB 1464: 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 can affect benefits, tax withholding, and legal protections. This bill sets up a new commission, working with the Georgia 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 their workers and review them. If a return correctly reflects a worker's true employment status and eligibility, the commission validates it. If the commission finds an employer filed an invalid 1099 for a worker, meaning the worker was misclassified, the commission must connect that worker to whatever remedies are available under federal law. The bill does not create new state penalties or new remedies itself; it relies on existing federal law for relief.

• Creates a new commission under the Georgia Department of Labor to annually review Form 1099 tax filings made by employers on behalf of workers.
• Requires the commission to randomly select and review at least 50,000 Form 1099 returns each year.
• Directs the commission to validate 1099 returns that accurately state a worker's employment status and eligibility.
• Requires the commission to connect workers to remedies available under federal law when an employer is found to have filed an invalid 1099 on their behalf.

Georgia employers who classify workers using IRS Form 1099, workers who may have been misclassified as independent contractors, and the Georgia Department of Labor, which must establish and support the new review commission.

Workers wrongly classified as independent contractors on a 1099 can miss out on benefits and protections tied to employee status. This bill sets up a state-level check on that practice, giving misclassified workers a path to federal remedies, though it creates no new Georgia-specific penalty or benefit.

• New Code section 34-2-17(a) requires the Commissioner of Labor to establish a commission working with the Department of Labor to review Form 1099 filings and mandates review of at least 50,000 randomly selected returns per year.
• Subsection (b) requires the commission to validate 1099 returns that accurately reflect a worker's employment status and eligibility.
• Subsection (c) requires the commission to provide employees with all remedies available under federal law if it finds an employer filed an invalid 1099 on their behalf.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

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

• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-095)Patrocinador principal
• 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 classification
• 1099 forms
• labor law
• Department of Labor
• employee rights