To submit Form 1099-NEC to the IRS, file it electronically through the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) or mail the official red-ink Copy A with a Form 1096 cover sheet to the IRS processing center for your state. Either way, the form is due by January 31 of the year after you made the payments, and the contractor must receive their copy by the same date. If you’re filing 10 or more information returns of any kind this year, electronic filing is mandatory.1Internal Revenue Service. E-file Information Returns
What You Need Before You File
You can’t prepare a 1099-NEC without the contractor’s taxpayer identification number, which is either a Social Security Number or an Employer Identification Number. Collect it on Form W-9 before you cut the first check. The W-9 also gives you the contractor’s legal name, business name, address, and entity type, all of which transfer directly to the 1099-NEC.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9
You owe a 1099-NEC to every non-employee you paid $600 or more during the calendar year for services in the course of your trade or business. The total goes in Box 1.3Internal Revenue Service. Reporting Payments to Independent Contractors Payments to C-corporations and S-corporations are generally exempt, with one trap: attorney fees of $600 or more must be reported in Box 1 regardless of the law firm’s corporate status.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. April 2025)
If you withheld federal income tax from a contractor’s pay under the backup withholding rules, that amount goes in Box 4, and you’ll also file Form 945 to report the annual total.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax
Filing Electronically Through IRIS
IRIS is the IRS’s current free electronic filing platform for information returns. You can key 1099-NEC data directly into a web browser, upload a CSV file, or connect through tax software using the Application-to-Application channel. The portal accepts up to 100 returns per submission, generates payee copies you can print or distribute, and keeps a record of everything you’ve submitted.6Internal Revenue Service. E-file Information Returns With IRIS
Before you can log in, you need an IRIS-specific Transmitter Control Code. These start with the letter “D” and come through the online IR Application for TCC on the IRS website.7Internal Revenue Service. IRIS Application for TCC The application can take several weeks to process, so start well before January. The old paper Form 4419 was discontinued in 2022 and will not be accepted.8Internal Revenue Service. 3.42.9 IRS e-file of Information Returns
The older Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system still works, but it requires you to build a fixed-format data file to the specifications in Publication 1220, uses its own TCC, and offers no manual data-entry option.1Internal Revenue Service. E-file Information Returns The IRS has announced that FIRE will be retired after filing season 2027.9Internal Revenue Service. Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) If you’re setting up electronic filing for the first time, use IRIS.
When you file electronically, Form 1096 is not required. Skip it.
Filing on Paper
Paper filing is only an option if you’re submitting fewer than 10 total information returns for the year. Copy A must be the official pre-printed red-ink version. The IRS scans these forms with equipment that cannot read black-and-white printouts or photocopies, and a downloaded PDF will be rejected. Order genuine forms from irs.gov/orderforms or buy them from an approved vendor.10Internal Revenue Service. Form 1096 (2025)
Paper filings need a Form 1096 transmittal on top. Check the Form 1099-NEC box, enter the number of forms in the batch, and write the combined dollar amount reported across all of them.11Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns Mail the package flat, not folded, to the IRS processing center for your state. There are three:12Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Form 1096
- Austin, TX (P.O. Box 149213, Austin, TX 78714): AL, AZ, AR, DE, FL, GA, KY, ME, MA, MS, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, TX, VT, VA.
- Kansas City, MO (P.O. Box 219256, Kansas City, MO 64121-9256): AK, CO, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, ND, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, UT, WA, WI, WY.
- Ogden, UT (IRS Center, Ogden, UT 84201): CA, CT, DC, LA, MD, PA, RI, WV.
Send it certified mail with a return receipt. If the IRS later says the forms arrived late, that receipt is your proof of timely filing.
The January 31 Deadline
Form 1099-NEC is due to the IRS by January 31 of the year following payment. The deadline is statutory and identical for paper and electronic filers.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6071 – Time for Filing Returns and Other Documents If January 31 falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.14Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (04/2025)
Extensions exist but are not automatic for 1099-NEC. File Form 8809 on paper by January 31, explain why you need more time, and you may get a single 30-day extension. An approved extension only shifts the IRS filing date; it does not extend the recipient-copy deadline.15Internal Revenue Service. Form 8809 Application for Extension of Time To File Information Returns
Getting Copy B to the Contractor
The contractor must receive Copy B by January 31, the same date as the IRS deadline.14Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (04/2025) First-class mail to the contractor’s last known address is enough. Electronic delivery is allowed, but only after the recipient gives affirmative consent through a disclosure process covering their right to a paper copy, how to withdraw consent, how long consent lasts, and the hardware or software needed to open the statement. If they later withdraw consent, you have to go back to paper.16Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
On the recipient’s copy, you may truncate the contractor’s TIN by replacing the first five digits with asterisks or Xs. You cannot truncate on Copy A sent to the IRS, and you can never truncate your own EIN on any copy.17Internal Revenue Service. 2025 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
Correcting a 1099-NEC After You File
If you catch a mistake, file a corrected return as soon as you can. For a wrong dollar amount, a bad checkbox, or a form that shouldn’t have been filed at all, prepare a new 1099-NEC with the right information, check the “CORRECTED” box at the top, and submit it the same way you submitted the original. One corrected return replaces the original.16Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
Fixing a wrong TIN or a wrong recipient name takes two returns instead of one. First, send a corrected return that mirrors the bad original but shows zero in all dollar boxes, which cancels it. Then send a second return with the correct name or TIN and the right dollar amounts, this time without the “CORRECTED” box checked, because the IRS treats it as a new original. On paper, submit both with a Form 1096 noting “Filed To Correct TIN” or “Filed To Correct Name” in the bottom margin.
What It Costs to File Late or Wrong
The IRS can hit you with two separate penalties for the same slip: one under Section 6721 for the late or incorrect return filed with the IRS, and one under Section 6722 for the late or incorrect statement furnished to the contractor. For returns due in 2026, the per-return penalty scales with how long the error goes uncorrected:18Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties
- Corrected within 30 days of the deadline: $60 per return.
- Corrected after 30 days but by August 1: $130 per return.
- Filed after August 1 or not filed at all: $340 per return.
- Intentional disregard: $680 per return, with no annual cap.
Small businesses (gross receipts of $5 million or less) face annual caps of $239,000 at the 30-day tier, $683,000 at the August 1 tier, and $1,366,000 after August 1. Larger businesses have roughly triple those caps.19Internal Revenue Service. 20.1.7 Information Return Penalties The caps apply separately to the filing penalty and the furnishing penalty, so one missed 1099-NEC can run up two charges.
States Are Separate
Filing with the IRS does not satisfy your state. Many states require their own submission of nonemployee compensation data, sometimes with lower thresholds than $600 or a different transmittal form, and occasionally with a deadline that doesn’t match the federal January 31. The federal Combined Federal/State Filing Program forwards your data to more than 30 participating states automatically, but only when you file electronically.20Internal Revenue Service. PCLIA 7431 Report – Combined Federal/State Filing Program If you file on paper, or if your state isn’t in the program, confirm the state’s own rules before the deadline.