Table of Contents

When are W-2s and 1099's (and 1098's) due?

Eric Updated by Eric

Due Dates

End of January

  • Taxpayer copies of W-2's and 1099's
  • Government copies of W-2 and 1099-NEC

End of February

  • 1099s except 1099-NEC

End of March

  • E-filed 1099's except 1099-NEC

Background

Long ago

It used to be that employee W-2s and recipient 1099s (and 1098s) were due at the end of Jan.

  • Government Copy A (red) forms were due at the end of Feb.
  • E-filed W-2s and 1099s were due at the end of Mar.

A few years back

In 2016, the government changed the due date for 2016 W-2 red forms to Jan. 31, 2017. At that time, the due date for 1099-MISC red forms also changed to Jan. 31st when that form was used to report non-employee compensation. When other kinds of income were reported on Form 1099-MISC, then paper copy A was still due at the end of Feb. or e-filed copy A was due at the end of Mar.

The due date for other 1099 red forms remained what they had been (end of Feb. for the the other red forms/end of Mar. for other e-filed 1099s).

When the due date for 1099-MISC changed to end of Jan. (for the ones used to report non-employee compensation), it created a situation whereby the same form (1099-MISC) had two different due dates. 1099-MISC was due Jan. 31st if it was for NEC but end of Feb. (if paper-filed) or end of Mar. (if e-filed) if it was another kind of income that was rightly reported on Form 1099-MISC. So you can see how confusing this is.

Then in 2020, the IRS created Form 1099-NEC (for non-employee compensation). Of course, all 1099-NEC are due at the end of Jan. whether it is the recipient or government copy and whether it is paper-filed or e-filed.

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