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If you’re a payment settlement entity or a third-party settlement organization, such as a payment processor, marketplace, or payment platform, you’ve probably sent your 1099-Ks to the IRS as a FIRE file, a fixed-width text file in the IRS Publication 1220 layout. Maybe you export it from your own system and upload it yourself. Maybe your software or provider produces it, and you or they file it.
That routine ends with tax year 2026. IRIS is now the only way to e-file 1099s with the IRS, and it can’t read a FIRE file directly.
You don’t have to rebuild yours. Upload it to TaxBandits, and we convert it into the XML that IRIS requires, check it, and file it for you.
The 2026 Form 1099-K also adds two boxes for tip reporting, so does the file itself have to change? For most filers, no. The layout works as is, unless the transactions you settle include cash tips. This guide shows where the new fields (boxes 1c and 1d) go and how to write them.
What changed on the 2026 Form 1099-K
Two boxes are new, beside the existing gross amount and card not present boxes:
| Box | What it reports | FIRE file change |
| 1a | Gross payment card and third-party network transactions | None. Stays at 55-66 |
| 1b | Card not present transactions | None. Stays at 67-78 |
| 1c | Cash tips, new | Yes, if settled transactions include tips |
| 1d | Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s) (TTOC), new | Yes, if settled transactions include tips |
| 2 | Merchant category code | None. Stays at 605-608 |
| 5a-5l | Monthly gross amounts | None. Stay in Payment Amounts 5 through G |
Box 1c is a breakdown of box 1a, not an extra amount. Say a payee’s gross amount is $41,750.00 and $3,200.00 of it was tips. Box 1a still shows $41,750.00, and box 1c shows $3,200.00. Cash tips include tips paid in cash and tips charged by customers.
The form also separates the filer and payee address fields. TaxBandits splits these when it converts your file, so there’s nothing to change on your side. For third-party network transactions, the IRS now requires reporting only when payments to a payee exceed $20,000, and the number of transactions exceeds 200. That changes which payees you include, not the file layout. Every existing field stays where it is.
Do you need to adjust your file?
| Your situation | Adjustment |
| The transactions you settle include no tips | None. Upload your file as is |
| Some payees have cash tips | Fill in 1c and 1d |
B record fields for tips
The standard layout has no place for boxes 1c and 1d, so TaxBandits reads them from set positions in the payee B record. Write the values at these positions, then assign the same positions when you choose the FIRE file upload option in TaxBandits:
| Box | Field | B record positions |
| 1a | Payment Amount 1: gross amount (unchanged) | 55-66 |
| 1b | Payment Amount 2: card not present (unchanged) | 67-78 |
| 1c | Payment Amount 3: cash tips | 79-90 |
| 1d | Reserved area: TTOC | 609-614 |
Nothing else moves:
- The monthly amounts stay in Payment Amounts 5 through G
- The Second TIN Notice stays at 544
- The Type of Filer and Type of Payment indicators stay at 547 and 548
- The merchant category code stays at 605-608
- The record is still 750 characters
How to write each field
- Cash tips (1c): 12 characters, numeric, right-justified and zero-filled, with no decimal point. The last two positions are cents, so $3,200.00 becomes 000000320000.
- TTOC (1d): six positions holding up to two 3-digit codes. Put the first code in 609-611 and the second in 612-614, leaving the second blank if only one applies. If tips were received in more than two occupations, include any two. If any tips came from a nonqualifying occupation, 000 must be one of the codes.
- Box 1a: it must already include the tips.
- Boxes that don’t apply: zero-fill the amount and blank-fill the TTOC.
Note: The TTOC starts at position 609, right after the merchant category code. Starting it earlier would overwrite the MCC at 605-608.
Map your file and upload it, step by step
- Find the payees with tips. Tip totals often sit in a different system from your settled transactions, so ask whoever owns that data.
- Check box 1a. Confirm each gross amount already includes the tips.
- Write the new fields in your file at the positions above, and leave every other record and field alone.
- Choose FIRE file upload in TaxBandits, assign the positions for boxes 1c and 1d, and upload the file as plain ASCII text. Keep an untouched copy of the original.
- Review before you file. Spot-check the new boxes on a few payees, compare totals against your source system, and let TIN Matching and validation run.
Note: If your system can’t write these fields, upload the file as usual and add the values afterward through a separate CSV.
Conclusion
Mapping the new 1099-K boxes takes one amount and one code, each in its own position, with box 1a still holding the full gross amount. TaxBandits handles the rest: the conversion, the validation, and the IRIS filing.
For the wider picture, see our guide to the 2026 Form 1099 changes. When your file is ready, request a demo or start your FIRE-to-IRIS switch with TaxBandits.
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