Required fields in the 1099-NEC IRIS CSV
14 columns are always required. Six more become required depending on what else is in the row.
In the IRS formatting guidelines, an asterisk (*) marks a field you must fill on every row.
| Col | Always required | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| C | Payer TIN Type | "SSN" or "EIN". |
| D | Payer Taxpayer ID Number | Digits and dashes only. EIN as XX-XXXXXXX, SSN as XXX-XX-XXXX. |
| E | Payer Name Type | "B" for business name or "I" for individual. |
| L | Payer Country | Country abbreviation from the IRS country code list, for example US. |
| M | Payer Address Line 1 | Letters, numbers, hyphen, slash and space only. |
| O | Payer City/Town | Letters and spaces only. |
| P | Payer State/Province/Territory | Domestic: 2-letter abbreviation. Foreign: up to 17 letters, numbers and spaces. |
| Q | Payer ZIP/Postal Code | Domestic: exactly 5, 9 or 12 digits, digits only. Foreign: up to 9 letters and numbers. |
| V | Recipient Name Type | "B" for business name or "I" for individual. |
| AC | Recipient Country | Country abbreviation from the IRS country code list, for example US. |
| AD | Recipient Address Line 1 | Letters, numbers, hyphen, slash and space only. |
| AF | Recipient City/Town | Letters and spaces only. |
| AG | Recipient State/Province/Territory | Domestic: 2-letter abbreviation. Foreign: up to 17 letters, numbers and spaces. |
| AH | Recipient ZIP/Postal Code | Domestic: exactly 5, 9 or 12 digits, digits only. Foreign: up to 9 letters and numbers. |
Required only sometimes
| Field | Required when |
|---|---|
| Business or Entity Name Line 1 (payer F, recipient W) | Name Type is B |
| First Name and Last Name (payer H and J, recipient Y and AA) | Name Type is I, or the other of the two is filled in |
| Recipient TIN Type (T) | A recipient TIN is entered |
| Box 1 or Box 2 (AL, AM) | Always one of them: Box 1 must be filled in or Box 2 must be checked |
| State 1, State 2 (AQ, AW) | Any other field in that state section is filled in |
| A state payment amount (AR to AU, AX to BA) | State 1 or State 2 is selected |
The recipient TIN itself has no asterisk in the guidelines. Perfrow leaves a missing TIN blank and lists the row for you to check.
Rules here follow the tax year 2025 guidelines, the newest the IRS has published as of 10 November 2026. Tax year 2026 guidelines were not posted yet. The IRS says the copy inside the Taxpayer Portal is the current one, so check it there before you file.
Fix the whole file at once
Drop in your blank IRIS template and your spreadsheet. Perfrow cleans every row, tells you which ones need you, and writes CSVs of at most 250 records. It runs in your browser, so names and TINs stay on your computer.
Open the 1099-NEC CSV fixerQuestions
- Is the recipient TIN required in the IRIS CSV?
- The tax year 2025 1099-NEC guidelines do not mark Recipient Taxpayer ID Number with an asterisk. The TIN type is required once a TIN is entered.
Other answers: All 54 columns · Character limits · State codes · 250-record limit · Why files get rejected · Scientific notation · ZIP code format · Date format · Line breaks · Extra spaces · Periods and # · $0.00 cells · Y/N check boxes · Tax year · Error types · Headers do not match · From QuickBooks · TIN format · Key dates