Free IRIS tool
Turn your spreadsheet into IRIS-ready 1099 CSV rows
The IRIS Taxpayer Portal only accepts the IRS's own CSV template, with strict rules for every column. Open your vendor list, add your payer details (or include them as columns), and get rows that follow those rules, with problems flagged before you upload.
Your spreadsheet is converted entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to us or stored.
Short answer
The IRIS Taxpayer Portal accepts 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC data as CSV files built on the IRS's own templates: 54 columns for 1099-NEC and 64 for 1099-MISC (TY2025 templates). Key formatting rules: TINs with dashes, ZIP codes as digits only, amounts without $ or commas and blank instead of 0, check boxes as Y or N, cells formatted as Text, and the file saved as CSV UTF-8. Keep each file to 100 records and one tax year.
- Corrections can't be made by CSV upload
- Names: letters, numbers, spaces and - # ( ) & ' only
- The TY2025 templates are the latest the IRS has published
- 2026 forms add new boxes, so recheck when TY2026 templates appear
Last reviewed against the IRS TY2025 IRIS template formatting guidelines and Publication 5717.
1. Form and payer These payer details go on every row. If your file has its own payer columns, you can map them in step 2 instead.
Required, unless every row has it in your file.
2. Your recipients A CSV file or cells pasted from a spreadsheet, with a header row.
The IRIS 1099-NEC CSV template, column by column
From the IRS's TY2025 IRIS CSV template formatting guidelines. Fields marked * are required. The 1099-MISC template shares columns A–AJ, then has FATCA, 2nd TIN notice, boxes 1–12 and 15, CF/SF and two state groups.
| Column | Field | Format |
|---|---|---|
| A | Form Type | 1099-NEC |
| B | Tax Year | Four digits, e.g. 2025 |
| C | Payer TIN Type* | SSN or EIN |
| D | Payer Taxpayer ID Number* | With dashes: XX-XXXXXXX (EIN) or XXX-XX-XXXX (SSN) |
| E | Payer Name Type* | B (business) or I (individual) |
| F–G | Payer Business or Entity Name Line 1–2 | Line 1 required if B; max 40 characters; letters, numbers, spaces, - # ( ) & ' only |
| H–K | Payer First, Middle, Last Name, Suffix | First and last required if I; max 20 characters; letters, spaces and hyphens only |
| L | Payer Country* | Country abbreviation, e.g. US |
| M–N | Payer Address Line 1*–2 | Max 35 characters; letters, numbers, spaces, - and / only (no periods or #) |
| O | Payer City/Town* | Max 40 characters; letters and spaces only |
| P | Payer State/Province/Territory* | Two-letter code |
| Q | Payer ZIP/Postal Code* | Digits only: exactly 5, 9 or 12 |
| R–S | Payer Phone Type, Phone | D (domestic) or I; 1231231234, 123-123-1234 or (123) 123-1234 |
| T | Recipient TIN Type | SSN, EIN, ATIN, ITIN, QI-EIN or UND |
| U | Recipient Taxpayer ID Number | With dashes, as for the payer; UND as 9 digits |
| V | Recipient Name Type* | B or I |
| W–AB | Recipient names | Same rules as the payer names |
| AC–AH | Recipient country, address, city, state, ZIP* | Same rules as the payer address |
| AI | Office Code | Optional; exactly 4 digits |
| AJ | Form Account Number | Optional; max 20 characters; can't equal either TIN |
| AK | 2nd TIN Notice | Y or N |
| AL | Box 1 - Nonemployee Compensation | Amount: digits and one decimal point, max two decimals, no $ or commas, not negative |
| AM | Box 2 - Direct sales of $5,000 or more | Y or N. Box 1 must be filled in or Box 2 checked |
| AN | Box 3 - Excess golden parachute payments | Amount |
| AO | Box 4 - Federal income tax withheld | Amount |
| AP | Combined Federal/State Filing (CF/SF) | States for the IRS to forward to, in quotes and comma-separated, e.g. "AL,CA" |
| AQ–AV | State 1: state, tax withheld, payer state number, state income, local tax, special data | Two-letter state; amounts; state number max 24 letters and digits; special data max 60 |
| AW–BB | State 2 | Same as State 1 |
What the builder fixes for you, and what it flags
- Fixed automatically: TINs reformatted with dashes; periods, commas and # removed from names and addresses; apostrophes removed from personal names (O'Brien becomes OBrien, as IRIS requires); ZIP+4 dashes removed; $ and commas removed from amounts; zero amounts left blank; extra spaces collapsed; long values trimmed to the IRIS maximum.
- Payer details from your file: map payer columns (payer TIN, name, address, city, state, ZIP, phone) and each row uses its own payer; any payer cell left blank falls back to step 1. Column headers from the IRS template itself are recognized too.
- Flagged for you to fix: missing or impossible TINs, ZIP codes that lost a leading zero, amounts in scientific notation (1.5E+4), invalid states, missing names or addresses, and 1099-NEC rows with no Box 1 amount.
Uploading the result to IRIS
- In the IRIS Taxpayer Portal, open Upload CSV with Form Data and download the official template for the same form and tax year.
- Open it in a text editor (or Excel with every column formatted as Text), and paste the builder's rows under the header row. If you included our header row instead, check it matches the official template exactly. IRIS validates the headers.
- Save as CSV UTF-8, upload, choose Start, review, then Add All and submit. Our IRIS Taxpayer Portal guide covers the rest.
Tax year 2026 templates
As of October 18, 2026, the IRS IRIS page still links only the TY2025 template guidelines. The December 2026 revisions of Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC add boxes (nonemployee compensation moves to box 1a on the 1099-NEC, plus new cash tip, tipped occupation and overtime boxes), so the TY2026 templates may add columns. Download the current template from the portal and check its header before uploading 2026 data.
Sources
- IRS: IRIS CSV template formatting guidelines, TY2025 (ZIP of PDFs)
- IRS Publication 5717, IRIS Taxpayer Portal User Guide, section 3.5 (CSV upload)
- IRS: E-file information returns with IRIS
- IRS: IRIS known issues and solutions (template fixes)
- IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. December 2026)
Questions
IRIS CSV questions
What format does IRIS need for a 1099 CSV upload?
IRIS only accepts the IRS's own CSV templates, downloaded from the IRIS Taxpayer Portal: one form type and one tax year per file. Cells should be formatted as Text and saved as CSV UTF-8, TINs written with dashes, amounts without $ or commas, unused amounts left blank, and check boxes as Y or N.
Why did my IRIS CSV upload fail?
Common causes listed by the IRS include amounts turned into scientific notation, the wrong date format, line breaks or extra spaces inside cells, periods or # in names and addresses, mixing tax years in one file, $0.00 in amount cells, and blank check boxes. The builder above catches or fixes most of these.
How many rows can one IRIS CSV file have?
IRS material conflicts: the newest IRIS Taxpayer Portal guide says 250 records per file, while other IRS documents say 100. Each submission holds up to 100 forms. The builder splits files at 100 to be safe.
Does this tool upload anything to the IRS or to EFileForMe?
No. Your spreadsheet is read and converted entirely in your browser, and the CSV is created on your own computer. You upload it to the IRIS Taxpayer Portal yourself.
Do I still need an IRIS TCC?
Yes, to upload the file to the IRIS Taxpayer Portal yourself. If you'd rather not apply for one, an authorized e-file provider like EFileForMe can file the same data for you without your own TCC.
Or import the spreadsheet you already have
EFileForMe imports your own spreadsheet layout, checks every form as it's saved, runs IRS TIN Matching on request and files with the IRS. No IRIS TCC, no IRS templates, no 100-row files.