To submit a 1099-NEC to the IRS, you file it either electronically through the IRS’s Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) or by mailing the official red-ink Copy A with a Form 1096 transmittal 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 recipient must have their copy by the same date. If you’re filing 10 or more information returns of any kind this year, electronic filing isn’t optional.
When You Have to File One
You file a 1099-NEC for each non-employee you paid $600 or more during the year for services performed in the course of your trade or business.1Internal Revenue Service. Reporting Payments to Independent Contractors Freelancers, consultants, subcontractors — anyone you paid for work who doesn’t get a W-2. The total goes in Box 1.
Payments to C-corporations and S-corporations, including LLCs taxed as corporations, are generally exempt. The exception that trips people up: attorney fees. If you paid a law firm or attorney $600 or more for legal services, you report it in Box 1 regardless of how the firm is organized.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. April 2025)
Before you can prepare any of these forms, you need each contractor’s taxpayer identification number, collected on a Form W-9 that also gives you their legal name, address, and entity type.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 Get that W-9 signed before the first payment. If a contractor won’t provide a TIN or the IRS flags the one you have as incorrect, you’re required to withhold 24% of every subsequent payment as backup withholding, and if you fail to withhold when required, the uncollected tax becomes yours to pay.4Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding Report any backup withholding in Box 4 of the 1099-NEC and reconcile the total on Form 945.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax
The January 31 Deadline
Form 1099-NEC is due to the IRS by January 31 of the year following payment, and the same date is when recipients must receive their copies. The deadline is set by statute and doesn’t change based on whether you file on paper or electronically.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6071 – Time for Filing Returns and Other Documents If January 31 lands on a weekend or federal holiday, it rolls to the next business day.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (04/2025)
Extensions exist but are hard to get. You have to file Form 8809 on paper by January 31, explain why you need more time, and you’re limited to a single 30-day extension. Unlike extensions for most other information returns, this one isn’t automatic. And even an approved extension only pushes back the IRS filing deadline; recipient copies are still due January 31.8Internal Revenue Service. Form 8809 Application for Extension of Time To File Information Returns
Filing Electronically Through IRIS
If you file 10 or more information returns of any type during the year (W-2s, 1099-MISCs, 1099-NECs, and every other information return counted together), electronic filing is required.9Internal Revenue Service. E-file Information Returns Below that threshold it’s still the easier route.
The Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) is the IRS’s current platform and the one to use if you’re setting up for the first time. It’s free. You can type return data directly in the web portal, upload a CSV file, or connect through software using the Application-to-Application channel. The portal handles up to 100 returns per submission, generates payee copies you can download and distribute, and keeps a record of what you’ve filed.10Internal Revenue Service. E-file Information Returns With IRIS
Before you can file, you need an IRIS-specific Transmitter Control Code, which starts with the letter “D” and is obtained through the online IR Application for TCC on the IRS website.11Internal Revenue Service. IRIS Application for TCC The old paper Form 4419 was discontinued in 2022 and is no longer accepted.12Internal Revenue Service. 3.42.9 IRS e-file of Information Returns The TCC application can take several weeks to process, so start it well before January.
The older Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system still works and uses its own TCC, but it requires a fixed-format data file built to Publication 1220 specifications and has no manual entry option. The IRS has announced FIRE will be retired after the 2027 filing season, making IRIS the sole intake system.13Internal Revenue Service. Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) If you don’t already use FIRE, don’t start.
Filing on Paper
Under 10 information returns and prefer paper? You can mail them in, but only on the official pre-printed red-ink version of Copy A. IRS scanners cannot read black-and-white printouts or photocopies, and submitting them will get your filing rejected and expose you to penalties. Order official forms at irs.gov/orderforms or buy them from an approved vendor.14Internal Revenue Service. Form 1096 (2025)
Paper filers also need a Form 1096 as the transmittal cover sheet. Check the box for Form 1099-NEC, enter the number of forms in the batch, and write the combined dollar amount reported across all of them.15Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns Electronic filers skip Form 1096 entirely.
Place the completed 1096 on top of your Copy A forms and mail the package flat, not folded, to the IRS processing center for the state where your principal business is located:16Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Form 1096
- Austin, TX (P.O. Box 149213, Austin, TX 78714): Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, Virginia
- Kansas City, MO (P.O. Box 219256, Kansas City, MO 64121-9256): Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- Ogden, UT (IRS Center, Ogden, UT 84201): California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia
Use certified mail with a return receipt. If the IRS later says your forms arrived late, that receipt is your only proof of timely filing.
Getting Copy B to the Recipient
Copy B goes to the contractor by January 31, same date as the IRS filing.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (04/2025) First-class mail to their last known address works. Electronic delivery is allowed but only after the recipient gives affirmative consent, which involves a disclosure explaining their right to a paper copy, how to withdraw consent, the duration of the consent, and the hardware or software they’ll need. The consent itself must be given electronically in a way that shows they can actually open the format you’ll send. If they withdraw consent, you switch back to paper.17Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
On recipient copies you may truncate the contractor’s TIN by replacing the first five digits with asterisks or Xs, so 123-45-6789 shows as ***-**-6789. You cannot truncate the TIN on Copy A filed with the IRS, and you can never truncate your own EIN on any copy.18Internal Revenue Service. 2025 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
Fixing Errors After Filing
If you catch a mistake after filing, correct it as soon as possible; the process depends on what’s wrong.17Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
For a wrong dollar amount, an incorrect checkbox, or a form that shouldn’t have been filed at all, prepare a new 1099-NEC with the corrected information, check the “CORRECTED” box at the top, and submit it with a new Form 1096 (if on paper) or through your electronic system. That single corrected return replaces the original.
Fixing a wrong TIN or wrong recipient name takes two returns. First, file a corrected return that matches the original incorrect information but shows zero in all dollar-amount boxes; this cancels the bad return. Then file a second return with the correct name or TIN and the right dollar amounts, without checking the “CORRECTED” box because the IRS treats it as a new original. On paper, both go in together with a Form 1096 noting “Filed To Correct TIN” or “Filed To Correct Name” in the bottom margin.
Penalties for Missing the Deadline
The IRS imposes separate penalties for filing late or incorrect returns with the IRS and for failing to furnish correct statements to recipients, so a single missed 1099-NEC can trigger both. For returns due in 2026, the per-return amount depends on how quickly you fix it:19Internal 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
Annual caps on total penalties scale with business size, with lower caps for businesses whose gross receipts are $5 million or less.20Internal Revenue Service. 20.1.7 Information Return Penalties
State Filing Is Separate
Filing with the IRS does not automatically satisfy state reporting. Many states want the same data submitted to their own tax agency. The easiest path is the federal Combined Federal/State Filing Program, which covers more than 30 participating states — the IRS forwards your 1099-NEC data to the relevant state agency, but only if you filed electronically.21Internal Revenue Service. PCLIA 7431 Report – Combined Federal/State Filing Program
If you filed on paper or your state doesn’t participate, you file directly with the state. State rules can diverge from federal ones: some use lower reporting thresholds than $600, some require their own transmittal forms, and a few set deadlines that don’t match January 31. Check with your state’s tax agency before the federal deadline so you’re not scrambling twice.