Working on Mercor
Mercor taxes: the 1099 and what you file
Contractor (1099) work: Mercor engages independent contractors, not employees, and you handle your own taxes. A W-9, then a 1099-NEC through Stripe by February above the IRS threshold.
What Mercor and the IRS say
How are taxes handled on Mercor?
Mercor does not deduct taxes; you are paid as an independent contractor and handle your own tax obligations. When accepting an offer, US citizens and permanent residents complete a W-9 (and receive a Form 1099-NEC through Stripe by February when they meet the reporting threshold), and everyone else completes a W-8BEN and receives no 1099. You must complete the form as an individual: Mercor cannot contract through your business entity.
How Mercor pays
Mercor pays hourly contractors weekly: every Wednesday around 12:00 PM PST for the previous work week (Saturday 12:00 AM to Friday 11:59 PM IST), about a five-day lag. Bonuses, work trials and referral pay use separate Wednesday and Friday release windows. Contracts are in USD, converted to your local currency at payout. Mercor assigns your payout provider by region: Stripe Connect (a new Stripe Express account, then your bank; Standard is free and arrives within up to 5 business days, Instant costs a 1.0% fee and arrives in about 30 minutes where your bank supports it) or Wise (you must accept each transfer from Wise's email; funds typically arrive in about an hour). Stripe holds your first payout for 7 days. The bank account must be in your own legal name, and Mercor cannot pause, delay or batch payouts.
More work beside Mercor
The closest alternatives to Mercor with roles open today are RemoExperts (28 open roles in the same work), Surge AI (13), Alignerr (187) and Handshake AI (169).
Like Mercor, they are expert networks that hire for Domain Experts, Coding and AI Evaluation.
Mercor taxes: questions
Is Mercor 1099 or W-2?
Contractor (1099) work: Mercor engages independent contractors, not employees, and you handle your own taxes. A W-9, then a 1099-NEC through Stripe by February above the IRS threshold.
Can I work on other platforms beside Mercor?
Contract work leaves you free to take other contracts unless your agreement says otherwise, and each platform pays and reports your earnings on its own. The sites like Mercor page lists the platforms hiring for the same kinds of work, with how many roles each has open today.
What Mercor's own pages and the IRS publish, from our Mercor guide, researched 2026-11-08; not tax advice. Some links on AITraining.jobs are referral links. If you sign up through one, AITraining.jobs may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what a platform pays you.