These are errors and rejects every filer can get when sending information returns to IRIS, whether through the free IRIS Taxpayer Portal or through filing software. IRIS reports each one on the acknowledgment by rule number.
What an IRIS business rule is
IRIS checks every transmission in two passes. The first is the XML schema: the file has to be well formed and every element has to be where the schema says. A schema failure rejects the transmission before any business rule runs. The second pass is the business rules, which check the content: that required fields have values, that codes are valid, that amounts and dates agree with each other, and that names and TINs match IRS records. When a rule fails, the acknowledgment names it by its rule number, and that number is what this tool looks up.
This tool covers the rules a filer can trip with the data on its returns: names and TINs, amounts and boxes, addresses and contacts, Combined Federal/State Filing states, and the error threshold. Rules about how the transmission file itself is built (the TCC, software ID, transmission IDs, counts and links between records) are handled by IRIS software and the Taxpayer Portal, so they are not listed here. For tax year 2026 that is 189 rules: 75 reject, 43 report an error, and 71 report an error until a threshold is passed.
Reject, report error, and the threshold
| Severity | What happens | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Reject | A transmission rule rejects the whole transmission. A submission or form rule rejects that submission, which is one issuer and one form type; other submissions in the same transmission can still be accepted. | Fix the data and send the rejected part again. It is not filed until it is accepted. |
| Report error | Accepted with errors. The return counts as filed; the acknowledgment lists the record and the rule. | Review the record. Where the data was wrong, file a correction. A payee name/TIN mismatch is the exception: see below. |
| Report error and reject if over threshold | Accepted with errors while the failures stay under a threshold. Past it, the submission is rejected. | Fix the field across the file. The IRS has not published the threshold, so there is no safe number of failures to aim for. |
A payee name/TIN mismatch (SHAREDIRFORM014 or 015) is a report error, not a reject. The return is filed with the mismatch, and the payee will appear on a CP2100 or 972CG. Fix it the B-Notice way, with TIN Matching and a new W-9, rather than by trying other spellings of the name in a correction.
Reading a rule number
- SMF: the issuer and contact details shared by all form types (issuer name and TIN, contact person).
- S1H to S5H, FS1H: the issuer details for one submission type: 1 for the 1099, 1098 and 5498 families, W-2G, 1097-BTC, 3921 and 3922; 2 for extension requests (Forms 8809 and 15397); 3 for 1042-S; 4 for Form 8027; 5 for Form 8955-SSA.
- SHAREDIRFORM: rules every form shares (recipient name, TIN and address, CF/SF states).
- F + form number: rules for one form, such as
F1099NEC,F1099RorF1042S. - A suffix such as _001 or _002 is a revised version of a rule. The older number is usually marked deleted in the same year.
The rules filers hit most
These are the rules that turn up in ordinary 1099 filing: names and TINs, missing payee and contact details, CF/SF states, withholding that looks too high, and the error threshold. Click a number in the tool, or type it, to see the full card.
| Rule | Severity | What it checks |
|---|---|---|
| SHAREDIRFORM014 | Report Error | SHAREDIRFORM014 (Report Error): The payee's individual name and TIN must match IRS records. |
| SHAREDIRFORM015 | Report Error | SHAREDIRFORM015 (Report Error): The payee's business name and TIN must match IRS records. |
| SHAREDIRFORM023 | Report Error | SHAREDIRFORM023 (Report Error): The payee's TIN is required. |
| SMF017 | Reject | SMF017 (Reject): The issuer's individual name and TIN must match IRS records. |
| SMF018 | Reject | SMF018 (Reject): The issuer's business name and TIN must match IRS records. |
| FS1H001 | Report Error | FS1H001 (Report Error): If the same payee TIN appears on more than one record in a submission, each record needs an account number, unique within the submission. |
| SHAREDIRFORM016 | Report Error and Reject if Over Threshold | SHAREDIRFORM016 (Report Error and Reject if Over Threshold): The payee's address (U.S. or foreign) is required. |
| SHAREDIRFORM018 | Reject | SHAREDIRFORM018 (Reject): If the FATCA filing requirement box is checked, the account number is required. |
| SMF020 | Report Error | SMF020 (Report Error): The contact person's information is required. |
| SMF021 | Report Error | SMF021 (Report Error): The contact person's phone number is required. |
| SMF022 | Report Error | SMF022 (Report Error): The contact person's email address is required. |
| SHAREDIRFORM019_003 | Report Error | SHAREDIRFORM019_003 (Report Error): A CF/SF state must be one of the states in the program (the current list includes DC, PA and RI; MO and OR are not on it). |
| F1099NEC001_001 | Report Error and Reject if Over Threshold | F1099NEC001_001 (Report Error and Reject if Over Threshold): Federal income tax withheld looks too high compared with the income amounts reported on the form. |
| ThresholdRule | Reject | ThresholdRule (Reject): If the share of records failing any one business rule passes the IRS's threshold, which is not published, the whole submission is rejected. |
Catching them before you file
Most report errors and rejects can be caught before a file goes to the IRS. The IRIS Taxpayer Portal has no test system, and in production a mistake becomes a correction. Three checks cover most of the list:
- Names and TINs. Match every payee through IRS TIN Matching before filing; the result code decoder explains what comes back.
- The file itself. TIN Comply's free IRIS 1099 File Checker runs an IRIS CSV or XML file against the IRS formatting and business rules in the browser. For a portal upload, the IRIS CSV upload checker on this site checks the template rules.
- Legacy files. A FIRE file in the Pub 1220 format can't go to IRIS. The Pub 1220 field position lookup decodes it, and the Pub 1220 to IRIS Converter on tincomply.com converts and checks it.
Questions people ask
Does a rejected IRIS submission count as filed?
No. A rejected submission or transmission has not been filed. Fix it and send it again; only accepted returns, including those accepted with errors, are filed.
What is the threshold in "reject if over threshold"?
The IRS does not publish it. The rules say only that the submission is rejected when the number of errors passes a configurable threshold. Treat every such error as one to fix.
Why does the same rule number appear with _001 and _002?
The suffix marks a revised rule. When the IRS changes a rule's wording or logic it usually issues a new number with a suffix and marks the old one deleted, so an acknowledgment from a prior tax year can cite a number that no longer applies.
Do I file a correction for every report error?
Only where the data was wrong. A payee name/TIN mismatch is handled through the B-Notice process (TIN Matching, a new W-9, backup withholding if needed), not by refiling with a different name.
Where do the rules come from?
From the IRS's business rules for IRIS for tax year 2026, as updated in September 2026. The descriptions are our own plain-English summaries; your acknowledgment gives the rule number. The IRS also lists its most common rules in its public IRIS Working Group materials.