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If you report rents, royalties, medical payments, or other income on Form 1099-MISC, you’ve probably sent them 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-MISC also adds new boxes, so does the file itself have to change? For most filers, no. The layout works as is, unless some payees have cash tips or qualified overtime. This guide shows where the new fields (boxes 13a, 13b and 14) go and how to write them.
What changed on the 2026 Form 1099-MISC
Three boxes are new, and two existing items moved:
| Box | What it reports | FIRE file change |
| 3 | Other income. Cash tips and overtime are included here | None. Stays at 79-90 |
| 13a | Cash tips, new | Yes, if payees have cash tips |
| 13b | Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s) (TTOC), new | Yes, if payees have cash tips |
| 14 | Qualified overtime compensation, new | Yes, if payees have qualified overtime |
| FATCA checkbox | The FATCA filing requirement checkbox no longer has a box number | None. Stays at 548 |
| Excess golden parachute payments | No longer reported on the 1099-MISC. They now go in box 3 of the 1099-NEC | Report them on the 1099-NEC instead |
The form also separates the payer and recipient address fields. TaxBandits splits these when it converts your file, so there’s nothing to change on your side. The reporting threshold is now $2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025, which changes which payees you include, not the file layout. Every other existing field stays where it is.
Do you need to adjust your file?
| Your situation | Adjustment |
| No payees with cash tips or qualified overtime | None. Upload your file as is |
| Payees with cash tips | Fill in 13a and 13b |
| Payees with qualified overtime | Fill in 14 |
B record fields for tips and overtime
When you file 1099s with TaxBandits, you can choose the FIRE file upload option and bring in the file your software already produces. The standard layout has no place for boxes 13a, 13b, and 14, so before you upload, you can assign positions for them. Use these, which are the positions TaxBandits reads:
| Box | Field | B record positions |
| 3 | Payment Amount 3: other income (unchanged) | 79-90 |
| 13a | Payment Amount 9: cash tips | 151-162 |
| 13b | Reserved area: TTOC | 549-554 |
| 14 | Payment Amount B: overtime compensation | 175-186 |
Nothing else moves:
- The Second TIN Notice stays at 544
- The Direct Sales Indicator stays at 547
- The FATCA Filing Requirement Indicator stays at 548
- The record is still 750 characters
How to write each field
- Amounts (13a and 14): 12 characters, numeric, right-justified and zero-filled, with no decimal point. The last two positions are cents, so $1,800.00 becomes 000000180000.
- TTOC (13b): six positions holding up to two 3-digit codes. Put the first code in 549-551 and the second in 552-554, leaving the second blank if only one applies. If any tips came from a nonqualifying occupation, 000 must be one of the codes.
- Box 3: it must already include the tips and overtime. Boxes 13a and 14 only show how much of that total they make up.
- Boxes that don’t apply: zero-fill the amounts and blank-fill the TTOC.
Note: The TTOC starts at position 549 on the 1099-MISC, one position later than on the 1099-NEC (548), because the FATCA indicator sits at 548. If you file both forms, don’t reuse the NEC positions.
Qualified overtime is the amount paid above the regular rate. For time-and-a-half, only the “half” portion goes in box 14.
Map your file and upload it, step by step
- Find the payees with tips or overtime. This data often sits outside your vendor payments, so ask your payroll or AP team.
- Check box 3. Confirm each total already includes their tips and overtime.
- 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 13a, 13b, and 14, 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 software can’t write these fields, upload the file as usual and add the values afterward through a separate CSV.
Conclusion
Mapping the new 1099-MISC boxes takes two amounts and one code, each in its own position, with box 3 still holding the full total. 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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