1099 season · checked against the IRS on

FIRE ends 19 November 2026: what to do

FIRE takes its last information return on 19 November 2026 at 3 p.m. ET, and changes to FIRE TCC applications close on 9 November. From 1 January 2027, IRIS is the only electronic filing system, for current-year and prior-year returns and for corrections. If you file through FIRE, send anything you meant to file there before 19 November, and set up IRIS before January: a FIRE TCC does not work in IRIS, and 1099-NECs for 2026 payments are due 1 February 2027.

“Nov. 19, 2026, at 3 p.m. ET: Last day to file information returns through the FIRE system.”

Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) (page last reviewed 7 Aug 2026; read 8 Oct 2026)

“IRIS will be the only information returns electronic filing system, including current year, prior year, or corrections, after Jan. 1, 2027.”

Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) (page last reviewed 7 Aug 2026; read 8 Oct 2026)

“TCCs for FIRE and IRIS are not interchangeable. You will need a TCC for FIRE and a separate TCC for IRIS if you wish to use both systems.”

IRIS 101 questions and answers (5 Aug 2025; read 8 Oct 2026)

Prepared for your review, not tax advice.

The dates

9 Nov 2026Last day to make changes to FIRE TCC applications (IR Applications).
19 Nov 2026, 3 p.m. ETLast day to file information returns through FIRE.
1 Jan 2027IRIS is the only electronic system, including prior-year returns and corrections.
1 Feb 20271099-NECs for 2026 payments due to the IRS and to payees (31 January is a Sunday).
31 Mar 20271099-MISCs for 2026 payments due when filed electronically.

What to do now

  1. Finish what you file through FIRE. Late 2025 returns and corrections you meant to send through FIRE go before 19 November. After that, the same filings go through IRIS.
  2. Get an IRIS TCC. The IRS no longer accepts new FIRE TCC applications, and a FIRE TCC does not work in IRIS. The free IRIS Taxpayer Portal needs its own TCC; apply well before January, when 2026's forms are due.
  3. Decide how you will file 2026's forms. The Taxpayer Portal takes forms keyed in one at a time or uploaded as CSV, up to 100 records per file, one form type per file. Software and filing services use IRIS's application-to-application channel, and file for you. If you file fewer than 10 information returns in the year, paper is still allowed; 10 or more must be e-filed.
  4. Apply the new threshold. 2026 payments need a 1099-NEC at $2,000, not $600: who needs a 1099 for 2026 payments.

If you upload CSVs, read the IRIS CSV template and its upload errors first: the portal checks the header row and refuses characters FIRE files never had to avoid.

Check your own payees, on your machine: export your QuickBooks or Xero 1099 or vendor-payments report as CSV and run

npx --allow-git=root github:agentwares/iris-1099 vendor-payments.csv

It decides who needs a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC and why, citing the IRS sentence for each, lists missing W-9s, and writes IRIS Taxpayer Portal CSVs in batches of 100. It makes no network request; TINs stay in the files on your disk and are shown as the last four digits. No file yet? npx --allow-git=root github:agentwares/iris-1099 --demo runs it on invented vendors. Source (MIT).

For bookkeepers: Keep every client's 1099 season — W-9 status, decisions, IRIS batch receipts — in one place.

Not built yet: $15 per client per season, $49 minimum, built only if enough bookkeepers ask by 1 December 2026.

Count me in ($15 per client per season, $49 minimum)

Sources

Other 1099 questions