1099s for 2026: what changed, and what’s due February 1
By Diane Jones, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, 30+ years of bookkeepingUpdated October 2026
Three things changed for the 1099s you’ll send in January 2027. The reporting threshold went up to $2,000, the IRS retired its old filing system, and the 1099-K went back to $20,000. Here’s what that means for your books, and what’s due when.
What changed for payments you made in 2026
The threshold is $2,000 now
For payments made in 2026, you owe a contractor a 1099-NEC once you’ve paid them $2,000 or more for the year. It was $600 for decades. The change came in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, section 70433), and it covers payments made after December 31, 2025. The IRS puts it plainly on its 1099 filing page: "For payments made in 2026, the reporting threshold is $2,000." Starting in 2027, the amount gets adjusted for inflation.
The same $2,000 applies to most boxes on the 1099-MISC, rents included. A few amounts didn’t move. Royalties are still reported at $10, and gross proceeds paid to an attorney are still reported at $600.
IRIS is the only way to e-file
Starting with the 2027 filing season, IRIS (the IRS’s Information Returns Intake System) is the only system that takes 1099s electronically. The older FIRE system won’t. IRIS is free and handles up to 100 returns at a time. If you file 10 or more information returns in total, and W-2s count toward that, you have to e-file.
The 1099-K is back to $20,000
Payment apps and card processors only send a 1099-K when someone’s payments top $20,000 and 200 transactions for the year. That changes what shows up in the mail. It doesn’t change what’s income. Your books should already have every deposit in them, whether a 1099-K comes or not.
The dates for the 2026 tax year
January 31, 2027 falls on a Sunday, so the January deadlines move to Monday, February 1.
| Form | To the person you paid | To the IRS |
|---|---|---|
| 1099-NEC (contractors) | February 1, 2027 | February 1, 2027 |
| 1099-MISC (rents and other income) | February 1, 2027 | March 1, 2027 on paper, March 31, 2027 if you e-file |
| W-2 (your payroll provider handles these) | February 1, 2027 | February 1, 2027, to the Social Security Administration |
Missouri wants its own copy. If you need to file a federal 1099 for a payment from a Missouri source, the Missouri Department of Revenue requires a copy too, by March 1, 2027. For 2025 filings Missouri said it wasn’t part of the IRS’s combined federal and state program, so plan on filing with Missouri directly. Its 1099 filing guidelines have the details.
Who gets a 1099 and who doesn’t
- Business payments only. The IRS says to report payments "made in the course of your trade or business." What you pay someone personally isn’t reportable.
- Most corporations don’t get one. Payments to a corporation, including an LLC taxed as a C or S corporation, generally aren’t reported. Attorneys’ fees and medical and health care payments are the main exceptions.
- Card and app payments don’t go on yours. If you paid a contractor by credit card or through a payment app, the card company or app reports it on their 1099-K. You leave it off the 1099-NEC.
- Property managers report rent to owners. When a manager collects rent and pays it over to the owner, the manager sends the owner a 1099-MISC for it. The manager also reports the repair contractors it pays on the owners’ behalf.
- Landlords, ask your CPA. If your rentals count as a trade or business, the 1099 rules apply to the plumbers and roofers you pay. Whether yours do depends on the facts, and that’s your CPA’s call. Schedule E asks every landlord the question.
What this means for your books
A 1099 is only as good as the books it comes from. Every payment has to be entered under the right vendor, with card payments kept apart from checks and bank transfers, or the totals come out wrong. Here’s what I’d do before December 31:
- Keep collecting W-9s. Fewer people will cross $2,000 than crossed $600, but you won’t know in March who’ll get there by December. If a contractor hasn’t given you a taxpayer ID number, their pay is subject to backup withholding at 24%, so get the W-9 before the first check.
- Get 2026 entered. If the year is behind, the vendor totals are wrong, and so is every 1099 built from them. My catch-up guide walks through how I bring a year current.
- Run a vendor total report for the year. Anyone near $2,000 gets a closer look. Check how each one was paid and whether they’re a corporation.
- Set up IRIS before January. Filing through it takes a Transmitter Control Code, and you get one by applying to the IRS and waiting while they review the application. Starting that the week of the deadline is how people end up filing late.
Want 1099s off your list this year?
I prepare and e-file 1099s for clients, for an added fee billed per form. I check the vendor totals against the books first, so the forms match what your CPA sees. If 2026 isn’t entered yet, I’ll catch it up first and give you a fixed price in writing before I start.
Set up my free callQuestions I hear a lot
Do I need to send a 1099 to a contractor I paid $1,500 in 2026?
When are 1099s due in 2027?
How do I e-file 1099s now?
Does the $2,000 threshold apply to Form 1099-K?
Do property managers have to send 1099s to owners?
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I’m a bookkeeper, not a tax preparer or attorney. For tax and legal questions, confirm the details with your CPA. I keep the books that make their job easier.
A Form 990 on extension is due November 16, 2026. Your CPA needs reconciled, fund-level books to finish it, and that’s the part I do.
Filed an extension for 2025? Those returns are due October 15, 2026. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2025 file before then, and the sooner I see it the more room we both have.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, and they’re built from a full year of entered payments. If 2026 is behind, the last weeks of the year are the time to catch it up.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, the same day your payroll provider sends W-2s. If the 2026 books aren’t entered yet, that’s the first thing I’d fix.
S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2026 file to file on time.
Individual returns are due April 15, 2027. A reconciled 2026 file is what your CPA needs to file, or to file the extension with real numbers.