Filing W-2 and 1099 forms for tax year 2023

Ordering W-2 Forms
Ordering 1099 Forms

We urge you to be prepared for filing of W-2 and 1099 forms for tax year 2023, and for printing of employee/recipient copies of these forms. For tax year 2023, if you file more than TEN (10) forms total (W-2 and any type of 1099), you must file them electronically with the federal government.

We recommend signing up for the SSA BSO and IRS FIRE systems no later than November 30th. Obtaining credentials for these systems may take up to 45 days. If you fail to file electronically when required, you may need to file for an extension to avoid penalties.

Filing W-2 forms

W-2 forms can be filed electronically on the Social Security Administration's Business Services Online (BSO) site, and we encourage all users to do so. W-2 forms must be given to employees and filed with the SSA by January 31.

If you file the SSA and state W-2s electronically, you would only have to print the EMPLOYEE copies, and using the 4-up W-2 form (with 4 small W-2s per page) means you only have to print one page per employee. When you file electronically, you do not need to print the red W-2 copies or the red W3. If you don't currently have a BSO account, we urge you to create one as soon as possible. See the Create Account link in the Employers box at the BSO Welcome Page. If you do have an account, we urge you to do a test connection to be sure it is active for this year (on March 25, 2023 they modified the sign-in method for the BSO site).

Note that BSO also allows you to MANUALLY type W-2 forms on their site if you have a very limited number of forms and you prefer to do it this way.

Filing 1099 forms

To file 1099 forms electronically with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you can use the FIRE system (Filing Information Returns Electronically).

To create a new account on FIRE, you must register for a Transmitter Control Code (TCC) which takes approximately 45 days, so we urge you to get registered as soon as possible. If you believe you have an active account on FIRE, we urge you to attempt to login to be sure that is actually the case. 1099s must be given to recipients by January 31. 1099-NEC (Non-employee compensation) must be filed with IRS by January 31. All other 1099 forms (MISC, DIV, INT, PATR) must be filed electronically with IRS by March 31 (by February 28 for paper filers).

The IRS has also developed a newer system called IRIS (Information Returns Intake System) that may eventually replace FIRE. It can be used to manually enter 1099 information online. If you would rather upload 1099 information via file, we suggest you use the FIRE system for now.

Filing tax forms with your state

States may require an employer to file W-2s electronically with the Department of Revenue - check with your state to be sure you are prepared. 1099 forms, paper or electronic, don't typically need to be filed with the state at all unless they involve state withholding tax (not usually the case).

North Carolina

North Carolina requires W-2 and NC3 records to be filed electronically by January 31 via the Department of Revenue eNC3 system.

The site does not require an account to be created, as it prompts for your employer information each time you submit a file. (It also allows upload of 1099 files but, again, this is unnecessary unless they involve NC state withholding tax.)