Who must file Form 1099-K
A payment settlement entity (PSE) files Form 1099-K for each participating payee to whom it made payments in settlement of reportable payment transactions. There are two kinds. A merchant acquiring entity (a bank or processor obligated to pay merchants for card transactions) reports all payment-card payments, with no minimum. A third-party settlement organization (TPSO), the central organization in a third-party payment network such as a marketplace, gig platform or payment app, reports a payee only when gross payments exceed $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeds 200 in the calendar year. P.L. 119-21 restored those amounts retroactively, so the $5,000 and $2,500 transition figures never took effect.
An electronic payment facilitator or other third party that makes the payments on the PSE's behalf files instead of the PSE. Healthcare networks, in-house accounts payable departments and automated clearing houses are not TPSOs and do not file.
Threshold: $20,000 / 200, third-party network transactions: more than $20,000 in gross payments and more than 200 transactions; payment-card transactions: all amounts.
What is reported, box by box
| Box | What it reports | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1a | Gross amount of payment card / third party network transactions | Gross, before fees, refunds and chargebacks, for the calendar year. |
| 1b | Card not present transactions | Online and keyed transactions included in 1a. |
| 1c and 1d | Cash tips and Treasury Tipped Occupation Code | New for 2026 (P.L. 119-21). |
| 2 | Merchant category code | Four-digit MCC. |
| 3 | Number of payment transactions | Count for the year, excluding refunds. |
| 4 | Federal income tax withheld | Backup withholding; Form 945. |
| 5a to 5l | Monthly gross amounts | January through December. |
| 6 to 8 | State information | Convenience boxes. |
Box titles follow the current revision of the form. The IRS reads the payer and recipient name, TIN, address, account number and the money boxes; the state boxes are for the state copy only.
Payments that are not reported on Form 1099-K
- A TPSO payee at or under $20,000 or at or under 200 transactions, unless the TPSO backup withheld (then a 1099-K is required to report the withholding).
- Payments to a payee whose card acceptance is only for the payee's own purchases (no participating payee), and payments to foreign payees documented on a W-8.
- Transactions settled outside a third-party payment network, such as a direct ACH between two businesses.
- Amounts a marketplace pays a seller that are not in settlement of card or network transactions may instead be 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC amounts.
Due dates and extensions
| Copy | Due | For 2026 returns |
|---|---|---|
| To the IRS, paper | February 28 | Monday, March 1, 2027 (February 28 is a Sunday) |
| To the IRS, electronic | March 31 | Wednesday, March 31, 2027 |
| To the recipient | January 31 | Monday, February 1, 2027 (January 31 is a Sunday) |
An automatic 30-day extension is available on Form 8809, filed by the due date on paper or through IRIS; a second 30 days requires a hardship showing. Recipient statements can be extended 30 days on Form 15397, online or by fax only. 10 or more information returns of any type in aggregate must be e-filed (T.D. 9972); IRIS is the only IRS intake system from filing season 2027, FIRE having been retired. A payer who e-files the originals must e-file the corrections.
For 2026 forms filed in 2027: January 31 falls on a Sunday, so that deadline moves to Monday, February 1, 2027; February 28 also falls on a Sunday, so the paper deadline moves to Monday, March 1, 2027. March 31 (electronic) and March 15 are weekdays. February 28 does not become February 29 in a leap year. The compliance calendar has every date with the weekend shifts applied.
Backup withholding and TIN matching
Section 6050W payments are backup-withholdable, with a threshold rule of their own for TPSOs: for calendar years after 2024 a TPSO must backup withhold only when the payee has exceeded $20,000 and 200 transactions in the current year, or when the payee had reportable payments in the preceding year. Merchant acquirers withhold from the first payment when a merchant's TIN is missing or the IRS has notified them it is wrong. Once withholding occurs, the 1099-K must be filed regardless of the thresholds. Report it in box 4 and on Form 945.
PSEs may use the IRS TIN Matching program, and the ones that run it at seller onboarding are the ones that stay off the CP2100 list. Real-time matching before the first payout is the standard control; see the marketplaces and gig platforms page.
Name and TIN errors on this form
Every information return is matched by the IRS on the first four characters of the payee's name (the name control) against the TIN. A mismatch produces a CP2100 line the following autumn and, unless the solicitation record is in order, a 972CG penalty the year after: $340 per return for 2026 forms filed in 2027 that are late or wrong, $690 for intentional disregard, with annual maximums of $4,191,500 ($1,397,000 for small filers) under Rev. Proc. 2025-32. The errors that recur on Form 1099-K:
- Sellers who sign up as a business but are people. The onboarding form asks for a business name, the seller types a store name, and the TIN is their SSN. The IRS knows that SSN as a person. Collect legal name and TIN type separately from the display name.
- Sole proprietor with an EIN. Allowed, but the first name line is still the individual's name, with the trade name second.
- Payees who migrate from SSN to a new LLC's EIN mid-year. Two payee records, two 1099-Ks, each with its own name/TIN pair; a single return with the new EIN and the old name mismatches.
- Foreign sellers. A W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E takes them out of 1099-K reporting; a U.S. address with no documentation presumes them U.S. and reportable.
The name control calculator shows what the IRS will derive from a name line, and the CP2100 guide covers what to do when the notice arrives.
Recipient statements and substitutes
The recipient statement for Form 1099-K need not be a copy of the official form: a substitute may be combined with other account statements or reports, provided every required item is numbered and titled as on the official form, the tax year, form number and form name appear together, the recipient instructions are included, and, for the forms Pub 1099 lists, a telephone number with direct access to someone who can answer questions is shown. Publication 1179 (Rev. Proc. 2026-18) has the specifications; logos, slogans and advertising are not permitted on the statement itself. Statements may be furnished electronically only to a recipient who has affirmatively consented in a way that shows they can access the format, after the disclosures in Pub 1099 part M, and must stay posted through October 15. Copy B may show a truncated TIN (xxx-xx-1234); the IRS copy never may.
Corrections and state copies
A wrong amount, code or checkbox is a Type 1 correction: one corrected return with the CORRECTED box checked. A wrong or missing payee TIN, a wrong payee name, or the wrong form type is a Type 2 correction: a zeroed-out copy of the original plus a new original, in that order. Publication 1099 also says you are not required to file a correction for a missing or incorrect TIN if you meet the reasonable-cause standard, only to use the right TIN on the next return, although the IRS encourages the correction. Details and the paper error charts are on the 1099 corrections page.
Form 1099-K is a Combined Federal/State Filing program form: e-file it with the CF/SF election and the IRS forwards it to participating states. Whether that satisfies a given state, or the state wants a direct filing with its own transmittal, is on each state pages.
Questions people ask about Form 1099-K
So the $600 1099-K threshold is gone?
Yes. P.L. 119-21 (July 2025) repealed the American Rescue Plan change retroactively. The threshold for TPSOs is more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions for 2025 forward, as if it had never changed. Payment-card processors always report all amounts.
Do states have lower 1099-K thresholds?
Several do, and they require direct filing at those amounts. The state pages list each state's 1099-K rule.
A seller crossed $20,000 but had only 150 transactions.
Not reportable by a TPSO; both tests must be exceeded. If you backup withheld on that seller during the year, file anyway.
Which 2026 figures changed on the form?
Boxes 1c (cash tips) and 1d (tipped occupation code) were added; the address fields were split into separate entry boxes.
Other federal forms
1042-S · 1097-BTC · 1098 · 1098-C · 1098-E · 1098-F · 1098-Q · 1098-T · 1098-VLI · 1099-A · 1099-B · 1099-C · 1099-CAP · 1099-DIV · 1099-G · 1099-INT · 1099-LS · 1099-LTC · 1099-MISC · 1099-NEC · 1099-OID · 1099-PATR · 1099-Q · 1099-QA · 1099-R · 1099-S · 1099-SA · 1099-SB · 3921 · 3922 · 5498 · 5498-ESA · 5498-SA · W-2G · 1099-DA · Comparison table
Sources: IRS Publication 1099 (2026), General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, which replaced the separate General Instructions starting with tax year 2026; Instructions for Form 1099-K (Rev. December 2026); Pub 1099 (2026) What's New and Guide to Information Returns; IRC 6050W, 3406; P.L. 119-21. Threshold amounts are indexed for inflation from calendar year 2027; check IRS.gov/InflationAdjustment for the current year.