At a Glance
The IRS retired the FIRE system on December 31, 2026. If you file 1099-MISC for rents, royalties, prizes, attorney payments, or other miscellaneous income, those forms now go through IRIS. The electronic filing deadline is March 31, 2027. If your systems still produce FIRE-format files, upload them to BoomTax unchanged — we convert to IRIS XML and submit automatically.
This article is part of our IRS IRIS Resource Center
— your complete guide to the FIRE→IRIS migration.
FIRE Is Gone — What Now?
If you went to file your 1099-MISC forms in early 2027 and discovered the FIRE system is no longer available, here is what happened: the IRS permanently retired FIRE at the end of 2026. Every information return that previously went through FIRE — including Form 1099-MISC — must now be filed through the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS).
FIRE is not temporarily down. It is not coming back. The replacement is IRIS, which uses XML instead of fixed-width flat files and has a different portal, TCC process, and submission workflow. The adjustment can feel overwhelming if you are discovering this mid-season, but providers like BoomTax make the transition seamless — especially if your existing systems already generate FIRE-format data.
1099-MISC Quick Facts for 2027 Filing
| Detail | 1099-MISC Specifics |
|---|---|
| What it reports | Rents, royalties, prizes/awards, attorney payments, medical/health care payments, crop insurance, and other miscellaneous income |
| Reporting threshold | $600 for most payment types; $10 for royalties; $600 for attorney payments |
| Federal e-file deadline | March 31, 2027 |
| Recipient copy deadline | January 31, 2027 (February 15 for Boxes 8 and 10) |
| Filing system | IRS IRIS (FIRE is no longer available) |
| File format | IRIS XML schema (not Publication 1220 flat file) |
Key 1099-MISC Boxes and Payment Types
The 1099-MISC covers a wide range of payment types, each mapped to specific boxes. Understanding which box applies is critical for accurate IRIS filing:
- Box 1 — Rents: Payments of $600 or more for rent of real estate, equipment, or other property. Common for property managers and businesses leasing office space or machinery.
- Box 2 — Royalties: Royalty payments of $10 or more for oil, gas, mineral rights, patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property.
- Box 3 — Other income: Prizes, awards, and other taxable income of $600 or more that does not fit other categories. Includes gambling winnings below W-2G thresholds and sweepstakes payouts.
- Box 6 — Medical and health care payments: Payments of $600 or more to physicians or health care providers, including corporations (an exception to the general corporation exemption).
- Box 10 — Gross proceeds paid to an attorney: Payments of $600 or more to attorneys for legal services rendered in connection with your business, regardless of whether the attorney is incorporated.
Important: Nonemployee compensation (contractor payments) is not reported on 1099-MISC. That moved to Form 1099-NEC starting in tax year 2020. If you are filing for contractor payments, see our 1099-NEC vs. 1099-MISC guide.
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Step-by-Step: Filing 1099-MISC Through IRIS
Step 1: Verify Your IRIS Access
Your old FIRE Transmitter Control Code does not work with IRIS. You need a separate IRIS TCC to file directly. If you file through BoomTax, skip this step — we submit under our TCC as your authorized transmitter.
Step 2: Collect Payment Data
For each 1099-MISC recipient, gather: legal name, address, TIN (SSN or EIN), and the payment amount mapped to the correct box. Pay attention to thresholds — $600 for most boxes, but only $10 for royalties (Box 2). Include federal income tax withheld (Box 4) and any applicable state withholding information.
Step 3: Choose Your Filing Method
IRIS supports three submission methods:
- IRIS Taxpayer Portal: Manual data entry or CSV upload. Suitable for small volumes only.
- IRIS A2A API: Programmatic XML submission for high-volume filers. Requires engineering investment to build and maintain. See our IRIS API integration guide.
- Third-party provider: Services like BoomTax that accept your data in any format (including FIRE flat files) and handle IRIS submission on your behalf.
Step 4: Submit by March 31
The federal electronic filing deadline for 1099-MISC is March 31, 2027. This gives you two additional months compared to the 1099-NEC deadline. However, recipient copies must still be delivered by January 31 for most boxes (February 15 for Boxes 8 and 10). Late filing results in penalties of $60 to $310+ per form.
Step 5: Review Acceptance Status
IRIS validates each submission and returns acceptance or rejection status. Common rejection reasons include TIN/name mismatches, missing required fields, and incorrect box amounts. Check IRIS error codes to diagnose rejections and resubmit corrected data before the deadline.
Your FIRE-Format Files Still Work
If your accounting system, property management software, or payroll platform still exports 1099-MISC data in the Publication 1220 fixed-width format, you do not need to rebuild anything. BoomTax bridges the gap:
- Upload your FIRE-format files directly — no manual re-entry, no CSV reformatting, no XML generation on your side
- Automatic conversion — BoomTax parses your flat file, maps rents to Box 1, royalties to Box 2, attorney payments to Box 10, and every other field to the correct IRIS XML element
- Validation before submission — we catch missing TINs, threshold errors, and box-amount inconsistencies before they reach the IRS
- State filing — BoomTax handles state filing requirements for 1099-MISC, including states outside the Combined Federal/State Filing Program
- Corrections — file corrected 1099-MISC forms through the same interface if amounts or recipient data need to change after initial filing
Frequently Asked Questions
FIRE is permanently retired. The IRS shut down the FIRE system on December 31, 2026 after announcing the transition years in advance. It is not an outage and there is no plan to restore it. All electronic information return filing now goes through IRIS.
The federal electronic filing deadline for 1099-MISC is March 31, 2027. Recipient copies are due by January 31, 2027 for most payment types, with an extended February 15 deadline for substitute payments (Box 8) and gross proceeds paid to attorneys (Box 10). See our 2027 IRIS deadlines calendar for the full schedule.
Only if you file directly with the IRS. The IRIS TCC is separate from the old FIRE TCC and requires a new application through e-Services. If you use BoomTax, you do not need your own TCC — we transmit on your behalf using our authorized TCC.
You do not have to change your data export process. Upload your FIRE-format files to BoomTax and we handle the conversion to IRIS XML. This is the fastest path for businesses whose software has not yet been updated for IRIS — your data stays the same, and BoomTax handles the format translation and submission.
The 1099-NEC reports nonemployee compensation (payments to independent contractors), while the 1099-MISC reports other types of income: rents, royalties, prizes, medical payments, and attorney gross proceeds. They also have different deadlines — 1099-NEC is due January 31 with no extension, while 1099-MISC electronic filing is due March 31. Both now go through IRIS.
Yes. A single IRIS submission can include 1099-MISC forms with different box types. You can include rent payments (Box 1), royalties (Box 2), prizes (Box 3), attorney payments (Box 10), and any other 1099-MISC payment types in the same batch. BoomTax maps each payment to the correct box in the IRIS XML automatically.
Next Steps
Author
Ken Ham
Founder at BoomTax
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Passionate about making tax compliance simple so businesses can focus on what matters.
BoomTax and its affiliates do not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors prior to engaging in any transaction.
