What Date Are 1099s Due to Recipients and the IRS?

1099 due dates to recipients and the IRS split into two separate deadlines. Recipient copies of most 1099 forms are due January 31 of the year after payment. The IRS copy is also due January 31 for the 1099-NEC, but for other common 1099s the IRS deadline is February 28 on paper or March 31 if you file electronically.

When Recipient Copies Are Due

January 31 is the standard furnishing deadline, and it covers the forms most businesses deal with: 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, 1099-DIV, and 1099-INT among them.¹ A form counts as timely furnished if it is postmarked on or before that date, even if it arrives in the recipient’s mailbox a few days later.²

A smaller group of forms gets an extra two weeks. February 15 is the recipient deadline for Form 1099-B (broker proceeds), Form 1099-S (real estate proceeds), Form 1099-DA (digital asset transactions), and Form 1099-MISC when reporting gross proceeds paid to attorneys in box 10.³ The later date accounts for the cost basis and similar calculations those returns require.

Electronic delivery of recipient copies is allowed, but only if the recipient consented in advance and you disclosed the specifics: the right to a paper copy, how to withdraw consent, the hardware and software required to view the form, and when it will stop being available online.⁴ A blanket “I agree” click during onboarding won’t satisfy the rule if those disclosures weren’t shown.

When the IRS Copy Is Due for Form 1099-NEC

The 1099-NEC has the tightest deadline of any information return. You must file it with the IRS by January 31, and that date applies whether you submit on paper or electronically.¹ Recipient copy and IRS copy share the same due date. Congress set the January 31 filing deadline for the 1099-NEC to help the IRS catch fraudulent refund claims early in tax season.

When the IRS Copy Is Due for Other 1099s

Every other 1099 gets a later IRS deadline than the recipient deadline. If you file on paper, the IRS copy is due February 28. If you file electronically, you have until March 31.¹ The split applies to the 1099-MISC, 1099-DIV, 1099-INT, 1099-B, 1099-R, and the rest of the 1099 family.³

Which of those two dates applies to you depends on the electronic filing threshold. If your business files 10 or more information returns of any type in a calendar year, you must file them electronically, which puts you on the March 31 date. The count combines every information return: all 1099 variants, Forms W-2 sent to the Social Security Administration, and any others.⁵ A company issuing eight 1099-NECs and three W-2s totals 11 returns and has to file everything electronically.

Weekend and Holiday Shifts

When a filing or furnishing deadline lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it moves to the next business day.⁶ That changes several of the actual due dates for the next two filing seasons.

For tax year 2025 returns filed in early 2026: January 31, 2026 is a Saturday, so the recipient deadline and the 1099-NEC filing deadline shift to Monday, February 2, 2026. February 28, 2026 is also a Saturday, moving the paper filing deadline for other 1099s to Monday, March 2, 2026.³
For tax year 2026 returns filed in early 2027: January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, moving the recipient and 1099-NEC deadline to Monday, February 1, 2027. February 28, 2027 is also a Sunday, shifting the paper deadline to Monday, March 1, 2027.

March 31 falls on a weekday in both years, so the electronic filing deadline for non-NEC 1099s doesn’t move.

Extensions

If you cannot meet the IRS filing deadline, file Form 8809 before the original due date to request more time.⁷ For most 1099s, the initial 30-day extension is automatic and does not require any justification.

The 1099-NEC is treated differently. Extensions for it are not automatic. Form 8809 must be filed on paper with a signed explanation, and only one 30-day extension is available even when approved. You have to meet one of five hardship criteria: a federally declared disaster that disrupted operations, death or serious illness of the person responsible for filing, fire or other casualty affecting operations, being in your first year of business, or not receiving necessary data from a third party in time to file accurately.⁸

Extensions of the deadline to furnish forms to recipients are harder to get and granted only under narrow circumstances. Don’t plan on one.

Penalties for Missing the Deadline

Late-filing penalties apply per form, and they apply separately to the IRS copy and the recipient copy. That means one missed 1099 can generate two penalties.

Filed up to 30 days late: $60 per form.
Filed 31 days late through 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 cap.⁹

For non-intentional failures, annual maximum caps limit total exposure, with lower caps for small businesses (filers with average annual gross receipts of $5 million or less over the preceding three years).¹⁰ For intentional disregard there is no annual cap, and the penalty may be calculated as a percentage of the unreported amount rather than the flat $680, whichever is greater.

A dollar-amount error on a filed 1099 doesn’t trigger a penalty if the mistake is $100 or less per item, or $25 or less when the error involves tax withholding. When this de minimis safe harbor applies, no correction is required and the original return is treated as correct, unless the recipient elects out by requesting a corrected form.¹¹

State filing deadlines run on their own schedules and are not covered by the federal dates above. Most states with an income tax require their own 1099 copies for recipients who live or earned income in the state, and state penalties for late filing apply on top of any federal penalties.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
2
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
3
Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
4
Internal Revenue Service. Requirements for Furnishing Form 1099-G Electronically
5
Internal Revenue Service. E-File Information Returns
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1099 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns – For Use in Preparing 2026 Returns
7
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8809, Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns
8
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8809 (Rev. December 2025) Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns
9
Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6721 – Failure to File Correct Information Returns
11
Federal Register. De Minimis Error Safe Harbor Exceptions to Penalties for Failure To File Correct Information Returns