When Are 1098s Due? Deadlines, Extensions, and Penalties

Form 1098 and the other forms in the 1098 series are due to recipients by January 31 of the year after the reported payments, and copies must reach the IRS by February 28 on paper or March 31 electronically.¹ For 2025 activity, that puts the recipient deadline at January 31, 2026. The same schedule applies to Form 1098 for mortgage interest, Form 1098-E for student loan interest, and Form 1098-T for tuition. Miss either date and per-return penalties begin to accrue, rising the longer the delay lasts.

January 31: The Deadline to Send Statements to Recipients

Any lender, school, or other reporting entity that collected mortgage interest, student loan interest, or tuition payments above the applicable threshold must get the corresponding 1098 into the payer’s hands by January 31.¹ If January 31 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

This date is firm. Requesting an extension to file with the IRS, described further down, does nothing to buy more time on the recipient copy.²

February 28 or March 31: The Deadline to File With the IRS

After sending statements to recipients, the reporting entity has to file copies with the IRS. The due date depends on the filing method:

Paper filing: February 28 of the year following the reported calendar year. The IRS uses February 28 in leap years too.¹
Electronic filing: March 31 of the year following the reported calendar year.¹

The same weekend-and-holiday shift applies. When either date lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday in the District of Columbia, the due date moves to the next business day.

Most Filers No Longer Have the Paper Option

Beginning with returns filed in 2024, the IRS requires electronic filing when a person files 10 or more information returns in the aggregate during a calendar year.³ That 10-return count is not limited to 1098s. It includes every kind of information return the entity files, such as W-2s and 1099s. The old threshold was 250 returns per type, so in practice nearly every business with employees or contractors is now on the March 31 electronic deadline rather than the February 28 paper one. The IRS offers a free web portal called the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) for entities that need an e-file option.⁴

How the Deadline Differs by 1098 Variant

The January 31 recipient rule and February 28/March 31 IRS rule cover the everyday 1098, 1098-E, 1098-T, 1098-F, and 1098-MA. One form breaks the pattern.

Form 1098-C, filed by charities that receive donated vehicles, boats, or airplanes with a claimed value above $500, uses a different recipient rule. The donor’s acknowledgment must arrive within 30 days of the sale date or the contribution date, depending on how the organization uses the vehicle. Only the IRS filing deadline follows the standard February 28 or March 31 schedule.⁵

Requesting a 30-Day Extension

Reporting entities that can’t meet the IRS filing deadline can request an automatic 30-day extension by filing Form 8809 before the original due date. The initial extension needs no justification and can be submitted electronically through the FIRE Production System or the IRIS portal.⁶

If 30 days still aren’t enough, 1098 filers can request a second 30-day extension, but that one is not automatic. The additional request has to be submitted on paper before the first extension expires, with a written explanation of why more time is needed.⁶ Neither extension moves the January 31 recipient deadline.²

Penalties for Missing the Deadlines

The IRS charges separately for two distinct failures: failing to file correct returns with the IRS under Section 6721, and failing to furnish correct statements to recipients under Section 6722. Both scale with delay, and both apply per return or per statement, so a large filer that misses the date on hundreds of forms can rack up penalties quickly.

Per-Return Amounts for 2026

For returns due in 2026, the tiers work like this:⁷

Corrected within 30 days of the due date: $60 per return.
Corrected after 30 days but on or before August 1: $130 per return.
Filed after August 1 or not filed at all: $340 per return.
Intentional disregard: $680 per return, or 10% of the total amount required to be reported correctly, whichever is greater.⁸

These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. The intentional-disregard penalty is not subject to the annual maximum caps that limit the other tiers, which makes willful noncompliance far more expensive than an honest late filing.

Annual Caps and the Small Business Break

Each tier has an annual maximum to keep a single bad year from being catastrophic for high-volume filers, and businesses with gross receipts of $5 million or less get lower caps.⁸ The same tiered structure and annual caps apply to the Section 6722 penalty for failing to furnish correct payee statements.⁹

Reasonable Cause Relief

Penalties under both sections can be waived if the reporting entity shows the failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.¹⁰ The IRS looks at the situation case by case, weighing whether the entity acted responsibly before and after the failure. Requesting extensions when possible, a strong compliance history, and prompt correction all help. Reliance on a tax professional does not shift responsibility off the filing entity, and simple oversight or lack of knowledge of the rules generally will not carry the argument.¹¹ First-time filers of a particular form and entities hit by system outages or natural disasters tend to have the strongest cases for relief.

If You’re the Recipient and January 31 Passes Without a Form

The January 31 deadline is the reporting entity’s obligation, not the taxpayer’s. If mid-February arrives without a form you expected, contact the lender or institution directly first.¹² If that doesn’t resolve it by the end of February, you can call the IRS at 800-829-1040 with your information and the payer’s name, address, and phone number, and the IRS will follow up with the entity.

A missing form doesn’t stop you from claiming the deduction. If you paid mortgage interest but never received Form 1098, which happens when two unmarried co-owners share a mortgage and only one of them gets the form, you report your share of the interest on Schedule A, line 8b, labeled as “Home mortgage interest not reported to you on Form 1098,” along with the name and address of the person who did receive the form.¹³ The same approach works for student loan interest and tuition: file on time using your own records, and amend later if a form eventually arrives with different numbers.

1
Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
2
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8809, Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 801, Who Must File Information Returns Electronically
4
Internal Revenue Service. E-File Information Returns With IRIS
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1098-C Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes
6
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8809 (Rev. December 2025) Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns
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Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6721 – Failure to File Correct Information Returns
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6722 – Failure to Furnish Correct Payee Statements
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6724 – Waiver; Definitions and Special Rules
11
Internal Revenue Service. Penalty Relief for Reasonable Cause
12
Internal Revenue Service. What to Do When a W-2 or Form 1099 Is Missing or Incorrect
13
Internal Revenue Service. Other Deduction Questions 2