How to file 1099s free with the IRS IRIS portal (step by step)

What IRIS is, and why it matters this year

IRIS, the Information Returns Intake System, is the IRS's system for e-filing 1099s and other information returns. It has two doors. The IRIS Taxpayer Portal is a free website where you type forms in or upload a CSV file. IRIS A2A (application to application) is for software companies and high-volume filers that send XML files directly.

The old system, FIRE, took its last filing on November 19, 2026. From the 2027 filing season, which is when you file your 2026 forms, IRIS is the only way to e-file 1099s with the IRS, including corrections and late prior-year returns. If you or your bookkeeper used FIRE in past years, that login does not carry over: you need a new IRIS TCC.

Most small businesses will use the Taxpayer Portal. It is built for small volumes, needs no software, and lets you download recipient copies for your contractors.

Before you start

1. An IRIS Transmitter Control Code (TCC). This is a 5-character code that identifies your business in IRIS. You apply online, and the IRS says to allow up to 45 days for processing. If you don't have one yet, apply now: see how to get an IRIS TCC.
2. An ID.me account for each person who signs in. The IRS uses ID.me to verify identity for both the TCC application and the portal.
3. A W-9 for every contractor you will report: legal name, TIN (SSN or EIN) and mailing address. Wrong name and TIN pairs are the most common reason for IRS notices. See 1099 vendors: from the W-9 to filing.
4. The year's totals by vendor. For payments made in 2026, the general 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC threshold is $2,000 (it was $600 for 2025). For payments made in 2027 it rises to $2,100 under the IRS's 2027 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2026-35). See 1099-NEC vs 1099-MISC for which form a payment goes on.

Do you have to e-file? If you file 10 or more information returns in total for the year, counting every type together, W-2s included, you must file them electronically. Fewer than 10, and paper with Form 1096 is still allowed; see do you still need Form 1096?

Deadlines for 2026 forms

When a due date lands on a weekend or legal holiday, the next business day counts. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday.

There is no automatic extension for 1099-NEC. For 1099-MISC you can ask for an automatic 30-day extension, and the portal has a Request Automatic Extension button that works until the form's due date. Late returns due in 2027 cost $60 a return if filed within 30 days, $130 by August 1, and $340 after that, with a separate penalty for late recipient copies. The information return penalty calculator works out the total.

Step by step: upload a CSV

The CSV route is the quickest if your accounting software can produce the file, or if you have more than a handful of forms.

1. Sign in. Go to the IRS page "E-file information returns with IRIS" and choose the link to sign in to the Taxpayer Portal with ID.me.
2. Download the template. On the dashboard choose Upload CSV with Form Data, pick the form type (1099-NEC, for example) and download the template. Use the template for the right tax year: the 2026 1099-NEC has new boxes 1b to 1d for cash tips, the tipped occupation code and qualified overtime, so its columns differ from last year's.
3. Fill it in. One form type and one tax year per file, up to 250 forms per file. The IRS's formatting guidelines set the rules: TINs with their dashes, no periods or # signs in names and addresses, money with two decimal places, Y or N in checkbox columns, and empty cells instead of $0.00.
4. Don't let Excel touch it. The IRS warns that Excel can turn long numbers into scientific notation, drop leading zeros from TINs and ZIP codes, and change dates. If you must edit the file, use a plain text editor such as Notepad.
5. Upload and review. Browse to the file or drag it in, then press Start. The Review Form Information page lets you check the rows and delete any you don't want, then Add All moves them to Unsubmitted Forms.
6. Fix anything flagged. The upload page tells you how many forms are ready and how many need more information. Open those, complete them, and they move to Ready to Submit.
7. Submit. On Unsubmitted Forms, select the forms and press Submit, then Submit All on the summary page. At the time of writing the portal submits up to 100 forms at a time, so a bigger upload goes in batches. You get a receipt ID: save it.

The most common upload errors, according to the IRS, are a template that did not come from the portal, an out-of-date template, and fields that don't follow the formatting guidelines.

Or type the forms in

With only a few contractors, typing is fine. Choose to create a new form, enter your business as the payer (name, EIN, address and phone exactly as on your other tax filings), then each recipient and the amounts. The portal checks each form for missing or badly formatted fields before you submit, and your progress saves automatically.

After you submit

• Check the acknowledgment. On Submitted Forms, each transmission shows a status: Accepted, Accepted with Errors, Partially Accepted or Rejected. A rejected transmission was not filed. Fix it and submit again before the deadline.
• Send recipient copies. The portal lets you download and print Copy B for each contractor. You can also print your own on paper forms, or send them electronically if the contractor has agreed to that in advance.
• State copies. The Combined Federal/State Filing program forwards 1099s to participating states, but many states also want their own filing. Check your state's revenue department.
• Keep the records: the receipt ID, a copy of each form, and the W-9s.

Fixing a mistake

The IRS cannot delete a filed return for you. Mistakes are fixed with a corrected return:

• In the portal, open Submitted Forms, tick the transmission (it must be Accepted or Accepted with Errors) and press Correct/Replace, then change the forms that were wrong.
• A wrong amount or checkbox is fixed with one corrected form showing the right figures.
• Some errors take two steps: a corrected form with zero amounts to cancel the first one, then a new original form with the right details. The correction charts in IRS Publication 1099 say which errors need this, such as filing the wrong form type or the wrong recipient.
• A duplicate (you filed the same form twice) is cancelled by correcting the extra one to zero.
• Send the contractor a corrected copy as well.

Doing it with AcboBooks

AcboBooks is a Windows accounting program for US and Canadian small businesses, bought once for $399.99. Its 1099 Wizard totals what you paid each vendor flagged for 1099s and shows who is over the threshold. The IRIS upload file then:

• checks your company's EIN, name and address, and each recipient's TIN, name and mailing address, and lists anything missing with where to fix it;
• saves a CSV for 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC in the IRS template layout, with up to 250 forms a file (more are split into several files);
• can use the template you downloaded from the portal: press Load IRS template and AcboBooks fills the IRS's own columns, matched by name. We recommend this, because the built-in columns follow the IRS formatting guidelines for tax year 2025, and the portal checks the header row.

AcboBooks never sends anything to the IRS: you sign in to the portal and upload the file yourself, with your own TCC. Saving the file needs an activated licence; during the 15-day trial the check runs and shows the summary. It can also print 1099s on paper forms if you have fewer than 10 returns. See 1099 and T4 software, or try it free.

Frequently asked questions