IRS FIRE system going away: how to move your 1099 e-filing to IRIS before January 2027

The FIRE to IRIS timeline

The IRS is retiring FIRE, the system many payers and service providers used for years to e-file 1099s. Tax-year 2026 information returns, filed in early 2027, go through IRIS instead.

You need an IRIS TCC, not your FIRE one

The IRS tells current FIRE users to complete an IRIS Application for TCC (Transmitter Control Code). An IRIS TCC is required to use the free IRIS Taxpayer Portal, and A2A filers need one too.

The IRS application tutorial (Publication 5903) says the typical application is processed within 45 business days, and times vary. Counted from 3 November 2026, 45 business days runs to about 11 January 2027 once federal holidays are skipped, so a FIRE user who has not yet applied for an IRIS TCC may not have one before January; apply now if you plan to file yourself. The application asks for:

• Your organization's legal name, business type, addresses and phone numbers.
• At least two Responsible Officials and two contacts, or one of each for sole proprietors, S corporations and single-member LLCs.
• For each person listed: SSN or ITIN, date of birth, US citizenship and contact details.
• The forms you will file and how you will transmit them.
• A signature from every Responsible Official, each with their own sign-in account and a 5-digit PIN.

If an e-file service or your accounting software files for you, ask the provider to confirm that it is set up to file through IRIS for the 2027 season and whether you need a TCC of your own.

IRIS Taxpayer Portal or A2A?

CSV upload rules that trip people up

The portal's CSV upload is the practical way to file more than a handful of forms without software. The IRS user guide (Publication 5717, revised September 2026) sets these rules:

• Use only the IRS template for that tax year and form type, downloaded from the portal's Upload CSV with Form Data page. The IRS recommends a fresh template each time.
• One tax year and one form type per file.
• Up to 250 forms per file, not counting the header row. A file can hold several issuers if your TCC role is transmitter.
• Submissions and recipient-copy downloads are limited to 100 forms at a time.
• Excel can strip formatting. The IRS suggests formatting cells as Text, saving as CSV UTF-8, and making later edits in a text editor rather than reopening the file in Excel.

Checklist for the 2027 filing season

• Decide how you will file: the Taxpayer Portal yourself, your accounting software, or an e-file service.
• If you will use the portal or A2A, submit the IRIS Application for TCC now and check that each Responsible Official can sign in.
• If you still need FIRE for anything this year, such as a late correction, file it before 3 p.m. Eastern on 19 November 2026.
• Collect missing W-9s and check names and TINs with the IRS TIN Matching program in e-Services.
• Total 2026 payments per vendor and apply the new $2,000 threshold. Leave out card and payment-app payments, which are reported on Form 1099-K.
• In January, download the current CSV template, upload a small test file and fix any rejected rows.
• File Form 1099-NEC and furnish recipient copies by 1 February 2027.
• If you file 10 or more information returns in total, you must e-file.

What Payee Ledger does, and what it does not

Payee Ledger keeps vendor totals from QuickBooks Online or Xero, collects W-9s and builds each client's 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC data in the IRS CSV template layout, in files of up to 250 forms. It does not transmit to the IRS yet. You upload the file under your own IRIS TCC, so you still need to apply for one; our own transmitter application is in progress.

Questions

Guides and answers

• 1099 threshold for 2026: what moved to $2,000 and what did not