A Plain-Language Heads-Up for Businesses and Preparers Before the 2027 Filing Season
This one is for the business owners and fellow tax pros. If your business files information returns, the 1099 family, through the IRS FIRE system (Filing Information Returns Electronically), that system is being retired, and its replacement is IRIS, the Information Returns Intake System. The IRS is reminding filers to prepare for the transition before the 2027 filing season, which in plain terms means: do not meet this change in January, when the deadlines are already on fire. Pun acknowledged.
✔ What Is Changing
- FIRE is going away. The long-running e-file system for information returns is being retired
- IRIS is the new front door for filing information returns electronically
- The change lands ahead of the 2027 filing season, the same season businesses will also be applying the updated 1099 reporting threshold of $2,000 for payments beginning in 2026
January was already busy. It did not need a software migration, but here we are.
✔ Who Needs to Act
- Any business that files 1099s for contractors, vendors, or other reportable payments
- Tax preparers and payroll providers who file information returns for clients
- Anyone whose current process is "the FIRE system, like always." That sentence has an expiration date now
✔ What To Do Now, Not in January
- Confirm how your business files today. If FIRE is anywhere in the answer, you have homework
- Get IRIS access set up early for whoever files on your behalf, including your preparer, so permissions are in place before the season opens
- Test the flow with time to spare, while a mistake is a lesson instead of a late filing
- Review your vendor and contractor records now, while the $2,000 threshold change gives you a second reason to clean the list: names, addresses, and taxpayer ID numbers should match IRS records
What This Does NOT Mean
- It does not change what you must report, or the January deadlines for furnishing and filing 1099s
- It does not mean paper filing suddenly became easy. Electronic filing rules still apply to most filers
- It does not forgive a missed transition. "Our system retired" is an explanation, not an extension
❌ What Not to Do
- ❌ Do not wait until January to discover your FIRE login no longer helps you
- ❌ Do not let one person's access be the whole plan. If that person is out, your filings should not be
- ❌ Do not skip collecting W-9s from new vendors this year. Clean records make the new system painless
How My Business Alternatives Supports Businesses
Behind this firm is a systems business, and migrations are our love language.
- ✔ Reviewing how your 1099 process works today and what the IRIS switch means for it
- ✔ Helping businesses organize vendor records ahead of filing season
- ✔ Year-round bookkeeping and compliance support, so January stops being a surprise party
👉 Get the MBA Client App: https://app.jotform.com/my-business-alternatives/mbatax-app
👉 Schedule a Tax Questions Consultation: https://calendar.app.google/rkMQF1wh9NtRgF3R7
Related Posts
- The Overtime Deduction: What Really Happened This Tax Season
- Good News for Good Filers: The IRS Will Now Forgive Some Penalties Automatically
Final Thoughts
Systems retire quietly and deadlines do not. If FIRE is part of your January, move to IRIS on a calm month, with your vendor records in order, and let the 2027 season be about filing, not migrating.
Sources: Internal Revenue Service, "New platform for information return e-file system" (reminder on the FIRE retirement and IRIS transition, IRS Newsroom). IRS Newsroom, "Topics in the News": https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/topics-in-the-news
