FIRE is shutting down. Here's how to move your 1099s to IRIS

Updated Oct 16, 2026 · Based on IRS sources

FIRE accepts its last files on November 19, 2026. From January 1, 2027, IRIS is the only IRS e-file system for 1099s. Dates, TCC steps and the free CSV upload option.

What is changing

For decades, payers and service bureaus sent 1099s to the IRS as fixed-width text files through FIRE (Filing Information Returns Electronically), formatted per Publication 1220. The IRS is retiring FIRE. Its replacement, IRIS (Information Returns Intake System), accepts returns two ways: the IRIS Taxpayer Portal (a web app where you type forms in or upload a CSV) and IRIS A2A (an XML application-to-application channel for software).

Publication 5717 puts it plainly: beginning with tax year 2026, IRIS "will be the only intake system for information returns," and FIRE "will not be available for submissions (current, prior year, or corrections) once the system shuts down in 2026."

Who has to act

• Anyone who files 1099s through FIRE today, including companies that upload Publication 1220 files exported from payroll or accounting software.
• Anyone with 10 or more information returns in a calendar year. Since 2024, filers with 10+ returns in aggregate must e-file, so paper is not a fallback for most businesses.
• Corrections to older years. After the shutdown, corrections for prior years also go through IRIS.

Step 1: get an IRIS TCC

IRIS needs its own Transmitter Control Code; a FIRE TCC does not work. You apply through the IRIS Application for TCC (with an IRS online account / ID.me sign-in). The IRS says TCC processing can take up to 45 days, so apply now, well before January. Pick the Taxpayer Portal role if you'll file your own company's forms, or Transmitter if you file for other businesses (one CSV can then include multiple issuers).

Step 2: choose how you'll file

Step 3: the CSV route, step by step

1. In the portal dashboard, choose Upload CSV with Form Data.
2. Download the template for your form type and tax year. Only IRS-provided templates are accepted, and the IRS recommends starting from a fresh template every time.
3. Download the Template Formatting Guidelines for that form (FAQ box → Template Formatting Guidelines). They list each column, the required fields (marked with *), lengths and allowed characters.
4. Fill the template: up to 250 records per file (header row not included), one form type and one tax year per file.
5. Save as CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited), then upload, review the forms, choose Add All, and submit. Each submission holds up to 100 forms; keep the receipt ID.

FIRE habits that break in IRIS

• Fixed-width thinking. Pub 1220 padded fields with spaces. In the IRIS CSV, leading, trailing or double spaces cause rejections.
• Formatting. TINs need dashes (EIN XX-XXXXXXX, SSN XXX-XX-XXXX), amounts need no $ or commas, and $0.00 must be blank.
• Spreadsheets. Excel quietly turns long numbers into scientific notation and drops leading zeros from ZIP codes and TINs. See IRIS CSV upload errors and fixes.
• Volume. A FIRE file could hold your whole year. In the portal you split it into 250-record CSVs. See IRIS CSV limits.

If you still have a FIRE/Pub 1220 file, free converters such as BoomTax's FIRE-to-IRIS converter can turn it into an IRIS CSV. Run the result through a checker before uploading, because converted files still trip the same formatting rules.

Sources

• IRS: Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE)
• IRS newsroom: information return e-file system transitioning to a new platform
• IRS Publication 5717, IRIS Taxpayer Portal User Guide (Rev. 9-2026)
• IRS: E-file information returns with IRIS

FAQ

More guides

• Why IRIS rejects your CSV, and how to fix each error
• The 1099-NEC IRIS CSV template, column by column
• The 1099-NEC threshold is now $2,000. Here's which forms it applies to
• IRIS CSV limits: 250 records per file, 100 forms per submission