Combined Federal/State Filing Program for 1099s: Forms and Deadlines

The Combined Federal/State Filing Program for 1099s lets you transmit one electronic file to the IRS and have the agency forward the relevant data to participating state tax authorities, so you don’t file the same information separately with each state. The program is free, covers most 1099 variants, and runs through the IRS’s electronic filing portal. Before you can use it, you need a Transmitter Control Code, an approved test file, and a signed consent form on record with the IRS. Roughly 30 states and the District of Columbia participate, and the list changes from year to year.¹

Which 1099 Forms Qualify

The program (CF/SF for short) covers most information returns businesses commonly file:

1099-B, Proceeds from broker and barter exchange transactions
1099-DIV, Dividends and distributions
1099-G, Government payments
1099-INT, Interest income
1099-K, Payment card and third-party network transactions
1099-MISC, Miscellaneous income
1099-NEC, Nonemployee compensation
1099-PATR, Taxable distributions received from cooperatives
1099-R, Distributions from pensions, annuities, and retirement plans
5498, IRA contribution information

The authoritative list, along with the technical specifications you’ll need to format your file, is in IRS Publication 1220, which is refreshed each year.²

Which States Participate

Not every state is in. States can join or leave by requesting a change from the IRS by January 1 of the year before it takes effect, and the current roster lives in Publication 1220. As of the most recent program year, notable non-participating states include Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.¹

If you have payees in a non-participating state, CF/SF won’t help you meet that state’s filing requirement. You’ll need to file directly with the state’s revenue department, usually through its own portal or a third-party service. Even for participating states, watch for extra rules: some require a direct filing when you withheld state income tax, or when a payment exceeds a certain dollar threshold. Check each state’s revenue website every year rather than assuming CF/SF covers everything.

Setting Up to Use the Program

Get a Transmitter Control Code

You can’t submit any electronic information return without a Transmitter Control Code, a five-character alphanumeric identifier issued through the IR Application for TCC. The application asks you to designate authorized users and describe your entity’s legal structure.³ With the older FIRE system being retired, apply for an IRIS TCC if you don’t already hold one.

Submit a Test File

First-time CF/SF participants must send an electronic test file coded for the program using the two-digit state codes in Publication 1220. When the test passes, the IRS mails you an approval letter.⁴ The test is only required for year one, but the IRS recommends running one every year to catch formatting problems before live data is at stake. The test environment and production environment are separate systems with separate credentials.

File Form 6847 Consent

The IRS won’t share your data with any state until you authorize it. Form 6847, Consent for Internal Revenue Service to Release Tax Information, provides that authorization, and a separate form is required for each payer. The IRS sends Form 6847 along with your test-file approval letter.⁵ Return the completed consent before your first live submission.

Formatting the File: B Records and K Records

The electronic file follows a strict structure detailed in Publication 1220. Small deviations in character length or field placement will cause the whole file to be rejected, so it’s worth confirming the layout before you transmit.

The file is organized into record types. “B” records carry the payment details and recipient information for every transaction. “K” records are what actually activate the state-forwarding feature: they summarize the payee count and dollar totals for each participating state and act as routing instructions telling the IRS which states should receive the data. Omit the K records or code them incorrectly and the file will still process federally, but nothing will be forwarded, and you might not find out until a state contacts you about missing filings.²

Each participating state has an assigned two-digit code in Publication 1220, and your K records must use those codes. If your payroll or accounting software generates the file, confirm it produces both B and K records. Software built only for federal filing may skip the K records by default.

Deadlines

Two commonly filed 1099 forms have different due dates, and confusing them is an easy path to penalties:

Form 1099-NEC: due to the IRS and to the recipient by January 31.
Form 1099-MISC: due to the recipient by January 31, and to the IRS by March 31 when filing electronically.

Other 1099 variants generally follow the March 31 electronic filing deadline. Confirm each form’s date in the General Instructions for Certain Information Returns.⁶

Form 8809 gives an automatic 30-day extension for most information returns and must be filed by the original due date. Form 1099-NEC is the exception. It has no automatic extension. Getting extra time for a 1099-NEC requires you to demonstrate hardship and provide an explanation, so plan your workflow around the January 31 date rather than counting on flexibility.⁷

Submitting the File and Checking Status

Upload the finished file through FIRE (for filings through December 2026) or through IRIS. Select “Original” as the file type for a first-time submission of that tax year’s data. You’ll receive a confirmation number to track the submission.

Uploading isn’t the finish. Check status actively; processing usually takes one to two business days and returns one of three results:

Accepted: the file met technical standards and is moving through the pipeline.
Bad: the file has structural errors. Fix them and resubmit the entire file.
Not Yet Processed: the system hasn’t reached your file. Don’t resubmit while in this state, or you risk duplicating records.

Keep a log of every confirmation number and status change. Those records are your evidence of timely filing if an audit ever raises the question. A “Bad” file gets a replacement that overwrites the rejected submission. Corrections to previously accepted files are handled separately, coded as correction records, and if properly coded for CF/SF, the corrected data will also be forwarded to the participating states.²

FIRE Is Being Retired

The Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system was the traditional route for electronic 1099 submissions, but the IRS is retiring it at the end of December 2026. Beginning with filing season 2027, the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) will be the sole intake system for information returns.⁶ Current FIRE users should complete an IRIS TCC application and begin the transition rather than waiting for the cutoff.

IRIS is a free, browser-based portal. You can key form data in directly, upload a CSV, or transmit a formatted file. It supports the CF/SF program, so the state-forwarding feature carries over. IRIS also allows up to 100 forms per manual-entry submission, automatic extension requests, and certain corrected returns all in one place.⁶

Penalties for Late or Incorrect Filings

The IRS imposes per-form penalties under Section 6721 when information returns aren’t filed correctly by the deadline. For returns due in calendar year 2026, the tiers are:⁸

Corrected within 30 days of the due date: $60 per form
Corrected after 30 days but by August 1: $130 per form
Filed after August 1 or not filed at all: $340 per form
Intentional disregard: $680 per form, with no annual maximum

Annual maximum caps apply and scale with business size.⁹ These figures cover federal penalties only. States that require a direct filing impose their own, and those vary widely. CF/SF reduces state exposure by automating the handoff for participating states, but it doesn’t eliminate it. If your K records are miscoded, or a state leaves the program between filing seasons and you don’t notice, you can end up with state penalties on top of federal ones. Reviewing Publication 1220 and each state’s requirements before every filing season is the surest way to avoid that.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Combined Federal/State Filing (CFSF) Program State Coordinator Information FAQs
2
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1220 (Rev. 04-2026)
3
Internal Revenue Service. About Information Returns (IR) Application for Transmitter Control Code (TCC) for Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE)
4
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 804, FIRE System Test Files and Combined Federal/State Filing (CF/SF) Program
5
Internal Revenue Service. IRB 2006-32 – Combined Federal/State Filing Program
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1099 (2026), General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
7
Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2026)
8
Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties
9
Internal Revenue Service. IRM 20.1.7 Information Return Penalties