1099 Changes for the 2026 Tax Year: A Guide for Property Managers

If you filed 1099s in early 2026 for the 2025 tax year, most of the process for the 2026 tax year will feel familiar. Two changes affect almost every property management company, though: the dollar amount that triggers a 1099 went up, and FIRE, the e-filing system many companies used for years, is not available for 2026 returns.

This guide compares the 2025 tax year (filed in early 2026) with the 2026 tax year (filed in early 2027), and covers what to do before you file.

The threshold rose from $600 to $2,000

For decades the number was $600. If you paid a vendor $600 or more for services, or collected $600 or more in rent for an owner, you owed them a 1099.

Starting with payments made in 2026, that number is $2,000. It applies to both forms property managers use most:

• 1099-MISC for owners. Report rent for owners who received $2,000 or more during the year.
• 1099-NEC for vendors. File for non-employee vendors you paid $2,000 or more for services, including parts and materials when supplying them is incidental to the service.

Three details worth having straight:

• Attorneys. Legal fees need a 1099-NEC even when the law firm is a corporation, and those fees moved to the $2,000 threshold along with everything else. Gross proceeds paid to an attorney, a settlement for example, are reported in box 10 of the 1099-MISC and stay at $600.
• Inflation adjustments. The $2,000 figure is indexed to inflation beginning in calendar year 2027, so check the threshold for each tax year you file rather than assuming $2,000 applies.
• Filing below the threshold. Sending a 1099 for less than $2,000 is not against the rules. Just do not tell clients that $600 is the requirement for 2026.

For most owners this barely registers, because a year of rent clears $2,000 easily. It matters more for vendors. A handyman you pay $1,200 in 2026 does not need a 1099-NEC, although the same $1,200 paid in 2025 did. Collect a W-9 from every vendor before the first payment anyway, because in January you cannot know who will cross $2,000 by December.

IRIS replaces FIRE for all e-filing

For the 2025 tax year you could e-file through either the IRS's older FIRE system or its newer one, IRIS. IRIS became available in 2023 and ran alongside FIRE while the IRS moved forms across. For the 2026 tax year that overlap is over, and IRIS is the only option.

What this means for you:

• You need an IRIS Transmitter Control Code (TCC). The IRS stopped accepting new FIRE TCC applications ahead of the shutdown, and anyone who used FIRE needs to complete an IRIS Application for TCC to e-file 2026 tax year returns.
• Apply early. The IRS says a typical TCC application is processed within 45 business days, roughly nine weeks, and that processing times vary. An application submitted in January 2027 is unlikely to clear before the February 1, 2027 deadline.
• Check your software. The old .txt "FIRE file" that many property management platforms exported does not work in IRIS. Ask your provider how they handle IRIS for 2026 returns. Some produce an IRIS-ready file, and some file for you.

The e-file requirement is the same as for 2025. File 10 or more information returns in total and you must e-file. That count combines all your 1099-MISCs, 1099-NECs, W-2s and other information returns, rather than counting each type separately.

The deadlines, side by side

The rules behind the deadlines are the same for both tax years. The dates shift because of where weekends fall.

The statutory dates are January 31 and February 28. Both land on a Sunday in 2027, so those deadlines move to the next business day. There is no automatic extension for the 1099-NEC, so plan on having vendor numbers final before February 1, 2027.

One exception. A 1099-MISC that reports gross proceeds paid to an attorney in box 10 has a later recipient deadline of February 15. In 2027 that date is Washington's Birthday, a legal holiday, so it moves to Tuesday, February 16, 2027.

The 2026 forms look a little different

The IRS issued new versions of the 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC, revised December 2026:

• Address fields. Payer and recipient addresses are split into separate boxes.
• Box 1a on the NEC. Nonemployee compensation moved from box 1 to box 1a.
• New tip and overtime boxes. The 1099-NEC adds box 1b for cash tips, box 1c for Treasury tipped occupation codes, and box 1d for qualified overtime compensation. The 1099-MISC adds boxes 13a, 13b and 14 for the same. Most property managers will leave all of these empty.

If you file on paper, use the forms for the tax year you are reporting. The IRS says not to use prior-year forms for current-year information, and it does not accept photocopies.

What did not change for 2026

• Prepaid rent. It counts as income in the year it is received, so owner 1099s should include it.
• Form 1096. Needed only when you file on paper, and one per form type rather than one per recipient.
• Card and app payments. Vendors you paid by credit card or through a payment app get a 1099-K from the processor, not a 1099-NEC from you. The threshold depends on how they were paid. Card processors issue a 1099-K no matter how much was paid. Payment apps and online marketplaces issue one only when payments exceed $20,000 across more than 200 transactions, and both tests have to be met.
• Year-end cleanup. Clean books make the whole process easier. Reconcile your bank accounts, clear out old uncleared items, and confirm owner and vendor tax information before you run anything.

Your 2026 tax year checklist

• Apply for an IRIS TCC well before January 2027 if you do not already have one.
• Ask your software provider how they handle IRIS e-filing, and whether their 1099 filters use the $2,000 threshold for 2026.
• Collect W-9s from any vendors you are missing, and update owner and vendor addresses and tax IDs.
• Reconcile all bank accounts through December 2026.
• Put the deadlines on your calendar: February 1, 2027, then March 1 or March 31, 2027. Add February 16, 2027 if you report attorney gross proceeds.

If you want someone to check the numbers before you file, our team works in AppFolio, Buildium, Rentvine, Propertyware and QuickBooks every day. We will do a free database review and put the findings in writing. The step-by-step mechanics are in our guide on how to file 1099s for property managers.

Sources

• IRS, Publication 1099 (2026), General Instructions for Certain Information Returns: irs.gov
• IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. 12/2026): irs.gov
• IRS newsroom, Information return e-file system transitioning to a new platform: irs.gov
• IRS, E-file Forms 1099 with IRIS: irs.gov
• IRS, Topic no. 801, Who must file information returns electronically: irs.gov
• IRS, Topic no. 802, Applying to file information returns electronically: irs.gov
• IRS, About IR Application for TCC for Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE): irs.gov
• IRS, Understanding your Form 1099-K: irs.gov
• IRS, Publication 527, Residential Rental Property (advance rent): irs.gov

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Talk with your CPA about your specific situation.