Missing January 31 is not the end of the world, but it is expensive and it gets worse the longer you wait. Here is the short version: file the late 1099 as soon as possible, pay the penalty, and put a reminder in place for next year.
Done in seconds. No sign-up required.
Five steps, in order. The sooner you get through them, the smaller the bill.
You need a signed W-9 on file for each person who got paid $600 or more. If one is missing, request it today. You cannot file a 1099 without the payee's TIN, legal name, and address.
Use your accounting software or bank records to confirm the total paid to each contractor during the tax year. Payments made by credit card or third-party processors do not go on your 1099 — those get reported on 1099-K by the processor instead.
The IRS IRIS portal and the older FIRE system both accept late filings year-round. Electronic filing is required if you are submitting 10 or more information returns in aggregate. Your payroll or accounting software likely has a 1099 module that handles submission for you.
Each contractor needs their copy of the 1099 so they can file their own return. Include a short note explaining the timing. They may need to amend a return they already filed if the income was not reported.
The IRS will send a notice (often CP-215 for information return penalties) with the assessed amount. You can request reasonable-cause relief in writing if circumstances qualify, or first-time penalty abatement if you have a clean three-year history. See the penalty schedule for what to expect.
Yes. Maybe not right away — the IRS typically takes one to three years to catch missing information returns — but they do catch it. The mechanism is automatic: the IRS cross-matches 1099 filings against what each contractor reports on their own return. If a contractor reports the income but no 1099 exists from your business, or the numbers do not match, you get flagged.
The first sign is usually a CP-2100 or CP-2100A notice — a TIN mismatch letter listing the payees where the IRS could not match the TIN to the name. That is a prompt to fix your records and re-file, and it signals the IRS has your filings in their system.
If you skipped filing entirely, the notice you get is different — a Notice 972CG proposing information return penalties. That is where the dollar figures from the penalty tier table show up. You have 45 days to respond with either a payment or a reasonable-cause waiver request.
Penalty tiers are set by a calendar, not how long you stall. Missing the deadline and filing two weeks late costs $60 per form. Filing in August costs $130. Filing in September costs $330. Waiting another year costs the same $330 tier plus whatever interest has accrued.
$60 per form. Filed by early March if the deadline was February 2. Small businesses have a $239,000 annual cap at this tier.
$130 per form. A reasonable target if you discovered the miss in late spring. Still in the middle tier.
$330 per form (2025) or $340 (2026). No benefit to waiting once you cross this threshold — file immediately.
Missing the January 31 deadline almost never comes down to not knowing the date. It comes down to forgetting to think about it until mid-January, then scrambling for W-9s that contractors have not sent back. A reminder 7 days out gives you a full week to chase missing documents before the panic sets in.
A recurring email reminder for January 31 fires every year automatically. You set it once, and next year's version of you gets an email in the third week of January saying "you have a week to file 1099s." That is usually enough.
Full context and the reminder form: 1099 filing reminder overview.
Yes, eventually. The IRS receives its own copy of every 1099 that gets filed and cross-matches against tax returns. If you were supposed to file 1099s and did not, the mismatch surfaces when contractors report the income (or fail to), often within 1 to 3 years. A CP-2100 or CP-2100A notice usually arrives first.
You owe a per-form penalty that depends on how late: $60 per form within 30 days, $130 by August 1, $330 after August 1 (tax year 2025). You may also owe a matching penalty for not furnishing the statement to the recipient on time. Filing late is still cheaper than not filing — the IRS penalty for non-filing keeps accruing.
No — 1099s are tied to the tax year in which the payment was made. A 2025 payment must be reported on a tax year 2025 1099, not rolled into next year. File the late 1099 for the correct year as soon as possible; the penalty keeps climbing the longer you wait.
There is no technical cutoff — you can file a 1099 at any time, even years late. The penalty structure caps at the "after August 1 / not filed" tier of $330 per form for 2025 (plus a matching recipient-furnishing penalty), so filing late is always better than not filing at all.
No. Once you send the late 1099 to the contractor, it is their responsibility to amend their own return if they had not already reported the income. Your obligation is to issue the form and file with the IRS. Give the contractor the form and a brief note explaining the timing.
Yes, if you can document circumstances beyond your control — serious illness, natural disaster, records destruction. "I forgot" or "I was too busy" does not qualify. First-time penalty abatement may be available if you have a clean compliance history for the prior three years.
One reminder. Every year. Advance emails before January 31 so you're not scrambling at 11pm on deadline day.
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