W-2 and 1099 deadlines for 2027 (tax year 2026)

Forms for wages and contractor payments made in 2026 are due in early 2027. The usual January 31 deadline falls on a Sunday in 2027, so W-2s and 1099-NECs are due on Monday, February 1, 2027, both to workers and to the government.

Deadlines at a glance

The weekend and holiday rule: when a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the form is on time if it is filed or furnished by the next business day. In 2027, January 31 and February 28 are Sundays, and February 15 is Washington's Birthday (Presidents Day), a federal holiday. A leap year never moves February 28.

W-2 and W-3

Employers must furnish Copies B, C and 2 to each employee by February 1, 2027. A W-2 that is properly addressed and mailed by that date counts as on time. If someone left during 2026, you can give them their W-2 any time after their job ends, but no later than February 1. If they ask for it, you have 30 days from the request or from the final paycheck, whichever is later.

Copy A of every W-2, with Form W-3, goes to the Social Security Administration by the same date, whether on paper or electronically. The SSA's Business Services Online lets you key in W-2s or upload a file, and it creates the W-3 for you.

1099-NEC and 1099-MISC

The 1099-NEC has a single date for everything: the contractor's copy and the IRS copy are both due February 1, 2027. Filing electronically doesn't give you extra time.

The 1099-MISC has more dates. Recipients get their copy by February 1, 2027, or by February 16 if you report substitute payments in box 8 or gross proceeds paid to an attorney in box 10. The IRS copy is due March 1, 2027 on paper or March 31, 2027 if you e-file. Not sure which form fits a payment? See 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC.

The $2,000 reporting threshold

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act raised the main reporting threshold. In the IRS's words (Pub. 1099 and the 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC instructions): "For tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments required to be reported on certain information returns and/or perform backup withholding on those payments increased to $2,000." The amount is to be adjusted for inflation beginning in 2027. Previously, it was $600.

• Now $2,000: nonemployee compensation on the 1099-NEC, and rents, other income, medical and health care payments and crop insurance proceeds on the 1099-MISC.
• Unchanged: royalties ($10), gross proceeds paid to an attorney ($600) and cash purchases of fish for resale ($600).
• Backup withholding: if you withheld any, you must file regardless of the amount.
• W-2s too: for wages paid after 2025, a W-2 is required for wages of $2,000 or more even if no income, Social Security or Medicare tax was withheld (up from $600). If any tax was withheld, a W-2 is required no matter the amount.
• 2025 forms: forms for payments made in 2025, filed in early 2026, used the old $600 threshold.

Ask contractors for a W-9 before you pay them so you have the right name and TIN when the form is due; see how to fill out a W-9.

When you must e-file

If you have to file 10 or more information returns in a calendar year, counting W-2s, 1099s and other information returns together, you must e-file all of them. For example, six W-2s plus four 1099-NECs makes ten, so all must be e-filed. Corrected returns aren't counted. If e-filing would be a hardship, you can ask for a waiver on Form 8508 at least 45 days before the due date.

• W-2s are e-filed with the SSA through Business Services Online.
• 1099s are e-filed with the IRS through IRIS. The free IRIS Taxpayer Portal needs an IRIS Transmitter Control Code, and the IRS says applications typically take up to 45 business days, so apply early.
• FIRE is retired. Starting with tax year 2026 forms (the 2027 filing season), IRIS is the only IRS system that accepts information returns.

Filing fewer than 10 on paper? Copy A must be the official red, scannable form. A copy printed from a website can't be scanned, which is why our PDFs leave Copy A out; see why Copy A isn't included.

Extensions

• W-2 and 1099-NEC filing: no automatic extension. You can ask once for 30 more days on a paper Form 8809, filed before the due date and signed, and only for listed reasons such as a disaster, fire, the death or serious illness of the person responsible, or a first year in business.
• 1099-MISC filing: an automatic 30-day extension if you file Form 8809 by the due date, on paper or through IRIS. A second 30 days is possible only under hardship.
• Copies to workers: a filing extension doesn't extend the date for furnishing copies. Request that separately on Form 15397, online or by fax (not by mail), by the furnishing due date. For W-2s, approval is generally for no more than 15 days unless the need for up to 30 is clearly shown; for 1099s, generally up to 30 days.

Penalties

Filing with the IRS or SSA and furnishing the worker's copy are penalized separately, so one late W-2 can cost twice. The penalty also applies to forms with missing or wrong information, a wrong TIN, paper forms filed when you had to e-file, and paper forms that can't be machine read. It may not apply if you can show reasonable cause, if the error is inconsequential, or if you file corrections by August 1 under the de minimis rule. Amounts are on the IRS information return penalties page; dates and thresholds are in Publication 1099 and the Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

Paystub.biz fills the official forms with the copies you hand out: W-2, 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC. File Copy A on the red form or electronically.