Greeting James, Jen et al. The 1099 is a federal form and not filed directly to CA state. CA gets payroll info from EDD and 1099 info from the Feds. Employers in CA must also notify EDD of new 1099 contractors. CA gets the info they need if everyone plays by the rules. As far as the forms go, you can only print the plain paper copies from QB. 3rd party 1099 kits incl the required red scannable forms. I prefer to get the free IRS 1099/1096 forms mailed to me which include the red-scannable forms. Electronic filing can only be done with an e-file provider for a fee or IRS FIRE account (not worth the trouble for a small business). The employer is still responsible for getting copies to the 1099 recipients however. I snail mail 1099's for my independent contractors with their last check for the tax year. That way I know they got their 1099 if their check was cashed. Cheers!
