2. Your spreadsheet
No file handy? to see what you get.
What your spreadsheet needs
One row per contractor, with a header row. Column names don't have to be exact: I match them, and you can fix any I get wrong.
- Name: a person's full name, first and last name columns, or a business name.
- Tax ID: the SSN or EIN from their W-9. With dashes (123-45-6789 or 12-3456789) I can tell which it is.
- Address: street, city, state and ZIP, in separate columns.
- Amount paid: the total for the year (Box 1). Federal tax withheld (Box 4) and an account number are optional.
From Excel, choose File, Save As, "CSV UTF-8". From Google Sheets, File, Download, CSV. From QuickBooks, run the 1099 or vendor contact report with tax IDs and amounts and export it to Excel, then save as CSV.
Step-by-step for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks and Google Sheets.
What you get
A CSV in the IRIS 1099-NEC template's columns, ready for "Upload CSV with Form Data" in the IRIS Taxpayer Portal, split into files of up to 100 forms. Names are split into first and last, states become two-letter codes, ZIP codes get back the leading zeros Excel drops, and every row with a missing tax ID, a short ZIP or an amount under the filing threshold is listed for you to check.
Up to 5 forms are free. For more, it's $49 for the filing season, for one payer, with as many forms as you need and a full refund within 30 days if it doesn't work for your spreadsheet.
Paid rent, royalties or other income? That's 1099-MISC
Choose what you paid at the top: 1099-NEC for contractors, or a 1099-MISC box for rent (an office, a storage unit, equipment), royalties, other income such as prizes, medical and health care payments, or gross proceeds paid to an attorney. The amount column goes in that box, and you get the IRIS 1099-MISC template instead. One file covers one kind of payment; if you paid the same person rent and contract labor, run the spreadsheet once for each.
Before you file
- You need an IRIS Transmitter Control Code (TCC) to use the IRIS Taxpayer Portal. Applying is free but can take weeks, so do it early.
- For 2026 payments, the 1099-NEC threshold goes up from $600 to $2,000. Check the IRS instructions for your situation; this tool doesn't give tax advice.
- Upload the CSV as downloaded. Opening and re-saving it in Excel can strip the leading zeros from ZIP codes again.
- Have a Publication 1220 (FIRE) file from your software instead? Use FIRE to IRIS; the same license covers both.