FIRE Shutdown Impact on 5498 Filers

The 5498 Series: What You File and Why It Matters

The 5498 family of forms reports contributions to tax-advantaged savings and retirement accounts. These forms are filed by custodians, trustees, and issuers — not by the individual account holders. Here is a breakdown of the three primary 5498 variants:

• Form 5498 (IRA Contribution Information) — Filed by custodians and trustees of Individual Retirement Arrangements. Reports contributions, rollovers, conversions, recharacterizations, and fair market value of the account. This is one of the highest-volume 5498 forms, covering traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP-IRAs, and SIMPLE IRAs.
• Form 5498-SA (HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA Information) — Filed by trustees or custodians of Health Savings Accounts and Medical Savings Accounts. Reports contributions made during the tax year, including employer contributions. BoomTax already supports 5498-SA through IRIS today.
• Form 5498-ESA (Coverdell ESA Contribution Information) — Filed by trustees or custodians of Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. Reports contributions and rollover contributions received during the tax year.

All three forms are currently filed electronically through the IRS FIRE system using fixed-width text files specified by Publication 1220. When FIRE shuts down on December 31, 2026, all filing moves to IRIS.

The Unique Challenge: 5498 Filing Deadlines

One of the most important things 5498 filers need to understand is that 5498 forms have different deadlines than 1099 forms. While most 1099s are due to the IRS by the end of February or March, 5498 forms follow a later schedule:

Form	Deadline to IRS	Reason for Later Deadline
Form 5498	May 31	IRA contributions can be made until the tax filing deadline (typically April 15)
Form 5498-SA	May 31	HSA contributions can also be made until the tax filing deadline
Form 5498-ESA	May 31	Coverdell ESA contributions follow the same April 15 contribution window

This later deadline is actually an advantage for the FIRE-to-IRIS transition. For Tax Year 2026 filing, your 5498 forms won't be due until May 31, 2027 — giving you five full months after FIRE shuts down to file through IRIS. That said, do not use this extra time as an excuse to delay preparation. See the full 2027 IRIS filing deadlines calendar for all dates.

IRIS Expansion Timeline for 5498 Forms

IRIS has been rolling out in phases. The 1099 series was first, launching in 2022. The 5498 series is part of the broader expansion happening in 2025–2026:

• 5498-SA is already supported on IRIS. BoomTax customers can file 5498-SA through IRIS today. This form was added to IRIS as part of the early expansion alongside 1099-SA.
• 5498 (IRA) and 5498-ESA will be added before the deadline. The IRS has committed to supporting all information return types on IRIS before December 31, 2026. XML schemas and testing environments for these forms will be available in advance.

For the complete transition schedule across all form types, see our FIRE-to-IRIS transition timeline.

What Custodians, Trustees, and Financial Institutions Need to Plan For

1. Assess Your Current Filing Workflow

Most organizations that file 5498 forms are banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, or trust companies. Many have automated pipelines that extract contribution data from core banking or custody platforms, format it into Publication 1220 records, and upload the resulting file to FIRE. Every step of that pipeline after the data extraction will need to change — unless you use a service that handles the translation.

2. Separate Your 5498 and 1099 Transition Plans

Financial institutions typically file both 1099 and 5498 forms. Because 1099 forms are already on IRIS and 5498 forms have a later deadline, you may be able to phase your transition. File your 1099s through IRIS first (for Tax Year 2025, due early 2026), then tackle 5498 filing for the same tax year (due May 31, 2026). This staged approach reduces risk.

3. Handle the File Format Change

FIRE uses fixed-width text files. IRIS uses XML. For organizations generating files in-house, this is a significant technical change. You have three options:

1. Rebuild your file generation to produce IRIS XML (see our XML format guide)
2. Use a conversion tool to convert FIRE flat files to IRIS XML
3. Use BoomTax — upload your existing FIRE-format files and BoomTax converts and submits them through IRIS automatically

4. Plan for TCC Changes

Your existing FIRE TCC will not work with IRIS. If you file directly, you need a new IRIS TCC, which takes 45+ days to obtain. Review the TCC differences between FIRE and IRIS before starting your application. Using an authorized provider like BoomTax eliminates the TCC requirement entirely.

5. Test Early

The IRS provides a testing environment for IRIS. Once 5498 XML schemas are published, test your submissions well before the May 31 deadline. Identify error codes and validation issues while you still have time to fix them.

BoomTax and 5498: What's Supported Today

BoomTax already files 5498-SA through IRIS. For the remaining 5498 variants, BoomTax will add support as soon as the IRS enables these form types on IRIS. Here is what BoomTax offers 5498 filers:

• 5498-SA: File through IRIS now. Upload via the web interface, bulk upload, or API.
• 5498 (IRA) and 5498-ESA: Will be supported as soon as IRIS opens these channels.
• FIRE-format file acceptance: Upload your existing Publication 1220-format files. BoomTax handles the XML conversion.
• No TCC management: BoomTax maintains all IRIS authorizations on your behalf.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps

• Full details on the IRS FIRE system shutdown
• Step-by-step guide to migrating from FIRE to IRIS
• IRIS filing guide for banks and financial institutions
• IRIS filing guide for insurance companies
• FIRE shutdown impact on 1098 filers
• Keep your FIRE files — let BoomTax handle IRIS