IRIS 1098-Q CSV template and checker
Form 1098-Q, Qualifying Longevity Annuity Contract Information, can be filed in the IRIS Taxpayer Portal with a CSV upload. Its template has 69 columns, 16 of them required, including 29 form box columns. Drop your file below to check it against every IRS rule, or read the column list further down.
Free. Checks every column against the IRS formatting guidelines.
2What the check found
3Download fixed files
Download the blank 1098-Q header (CSV) All IRIS templates
Built from the IRS TY2025 Template Formatting Guidelines, the latest posted. IRIS checks the header row against the template you download inside the portal, so upload with that one. Columns marked required are starred in the IRS guidelines.
Upload limits for every IRIS CSV
- Up to 250 records per file, header not counted, and files of 100KB or less.
- One form type and one tax year per file.
- Save as CSV UTF-8, and do not reopen and re-save the file in Excel.
- Leave money cells empty instead of 0.00, and enter Y or N in every checkbox column.
All 69 columns
| Col. | Field | Required | Example | Formatting rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Form Type | 1098-Q | ||
| B | Tax Year | 2023 | ||
| C | Issuer TIN Type | Yes | SSN | Must be entered as "SSN" and "EIN" |
| D | Issuer Taxpayer ID Number | Yes | 123-23-1234 | Digits and dashes only Business TINs (EIN) must be in XX-XXXXXXX format Individual TINs (SSN) must be in XXX-XX-XXXX format |
| E | Issuer Name Type | Yes | B | Must be entered as "B" for Business Name or "I" for Individual |
| F | Issuer Business or Entity Name Line 1 | John Finch Company | Required if Name Type = "B" Length: Max 40 characters May only contain alphabet letters, numbers, blank space (), and the following special characters: hyphen (-), pound (#), parentheses (), ampersand (&), and apostrophe (') May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| G | Issuer Business or Entity Name Line 2 | Length: Max 40 characters May only contain alphabet letters, numbers, blank space (), and the following special characters: hyphen (-), pound (#), parentheses (), ampersand (&), apostrophe ('), slash (/), and percent (%) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | ||
| H | Issuer First Name | John | Required if Name Type = "I" Required if Last Name is filled out Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| I | Issuer Middle Name | James | Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| J | Issuer Last Name (Surname) | Finch | Required if Name Type = "I" Required if First Name is filled out Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| K | Issuer Suffix | Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | ||
| L | Issuer Country | Yes | US | Must be entered according to their designated country abbreviation Link to country abbreviations: https://www.irs.gov/e-file- providers/foreign-country-code-listing-for-modernized-e-file |
| M | Issuer Address Line 1 | Yes | 1234 Midway Rd | Length: Max 35 characters May only be alpha-numeric characters and the following special characters: hyphen ( - ) slash ( / ) space ( ) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces |
| N | Issuer Address Line 2 | Length: Max 35 characters May only be alpha-numeric characters and the following special characters: hyphen ( - ) slash ( / ) space ( ) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | ||
| O | Issuer City/Town | Yes | Dallas | Length: Max 40 characters May only be alphabet characters and the following special characters: space ( ) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces |
| P | Issuer State/Province/Territory | Yes | TX | [Domestic] Must be entered as their 2 letter abbreviation Link to 2 letter abbreviation: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs- utl/zip code and state abbreviations.pdf _ _ _ _ [Foreign] Length: Max 17 characters Alpha-numeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) and spaces only May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces |
| Q | Issuer ZIP/Postal Code | Yes | 12309 | [Domestic] Length: Exactly 5, 9 or 12 characters Digits only [Foreign] Length: Max 9 characters Alpha-numeric characters only (A-Z, 0-9) |
| R | Issuer Phone Type | D | Must be entered as "D" for Domestic or "I" for International | |
| S | Issuer Phone | 2145555555 | Domestic Phone must be in one of the following formats: 1231231234, 123-123-1234, (123) 123-1234 International Phone must be 15 digits or less and may only include the "+" symbol at the beginning | |
| T | Issuer Email Address | test@example .com | Email Address must be entered in the following example format: example@domain.com | |
| U | Participant TIN Type | SSN | Required if Taxpayer ID Number is entered. Must be entered as "SSN", "EIN", "ATIN", "ITIN", "QI-EIN", or "UND" | |
| V | Participant Taxpayer ID Number | 123-23-1234 | Business TINs (EIN, QI-EIN) must be in XX-XXXXXXX format Individual TINs (SSN, ITIN, ATIN) must be in XXX-XX-XXXX format Undeterminable TINs (UND) must be in XXXXXXXXX format | |
| W | Participant Name Type | Yes | B | Must be entered as "B" for Business Name or "I" for Individual |
| X | Participant Business or Entity Name Line 1 | ABC123 | Required if Name Type = "B" Length: Max 40 characters May only contain alphabet letters, numbers, blank space (), and the following special characters: hyphen (-), pound (#), parentheses (), ampersand (&), and apostrophe (') May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| Y | Participant Business or Entity Name Line 2 | Length: Max 40 characters May only contain alphabet letters, numbers, blank space (), and the following special characters: hyphen (-), pound (#), parentheses (), ampersand (&), apostrophe ('), slash (/), and percent (%) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | ||
| Z | Participant First Name | Sarah | Required if Name Type = "I" Required if Last Name is filled out Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| AA | Participant Middle Name | Jasmin | Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| AB | Participant Last Name (Surname) | Finch | Required if Name Type = "I" Required if First Name is filled out Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | |
| AC | Participant Suffix | Length: Max 20 characters May only contain alphabet letters, blanks ( ) and hyphens (-) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | ||
| AD | Participant Country | Yes | US | Must be entered according to their designated country abbreviation Link to country abbreviations: https://www.irs.gov/e-file- providers/foreign-country-code-listing-for-modernized-e-file |
| AE | Participant Address Line 1 | Yes | 1234 Midway Rd | Length: Max 35 characters May only be alpha-numeric characters and the following special characters: hyphen ( - ) slash ( / ) space ( ) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces |
| AF | Participant Address Line 2 | Length: Max 35 characters May only be alpha-numeric characters and the following special characters: hyphen ( - ) slash ( / ) space ( ) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces | ||
| AG | Participant City/Town | Yes | Dallas | Length: Max 40 characters May only be alphabet characters and the following special characters: space ( ) May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces |
| AH | Participant State/Province/Territory | Yes | TX | [Domestic] Must be entered as their 2 letter abbreviation Link to 2 letter abbreviation: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs- utl/zip code and state abbreviations.pdf _ _ _ _ [Foreign] Length: Max 17 characters Alpha-numeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) and spaces only May not contain leading, trailing, and adjacent spaces |
| AI | Participant ZIP/Postal Code | Yes | 12309 | [Domestic] Length: Exactly 5, 9 or 12 characters Digits only [Foreign] Length: Max 9 characters Alpha-numeric characters only (A-Z, 0-9) |
| AJ | Office Code | 1234 | Length: Exactly 4 digits | |
| AK | Form Account Number | ABC12345 | Length: Max 20 characters May not be the same as the Payer or Recipient Taxpayer ID Number | |
| AL | Plan Number | ABC123 | Length: Max 30 characters Should only include alphanumeric values and certain special characters and may not include leading or trailing spaces, or more than 1 space in a row. Allowed special characters include the following: ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < > = ? @ { | } ~ £ § Á É Í Ñ Ó × Ú Ü á é í ñ ó ú ü | |
| AM | Name of Plan | ABC123 | Length: Max 35 characters Should only include alphanumeric values and certain special characters and may not include leading or trailing spaces, or more than 1 space in a row. Allowed special characters include the following: ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < > = ? @ { | } ~ £ § Á É Í Ñ Ó × Ú Ü á é í ñ ó ú ü | |
| AN | Plan Sponsor's EIN | 12-2353963 | Length: Exactly 9 characters Digits and dashes only Must be in XX-XXXXXXX format. | |
| AO | Box 1a - Annuity Amount on Start Date | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| AP | Box 1b - Annuity Start Date | 03/30/2022 | Length: Max 8 characters Digits only Date field must be in MM/DD/YYYY format | |
| AQ | Box 2 - Accelerated Start Date | Y | Length: Max 1 character Must be entered as "Y" for Yes or "N" for No | |
| AR | Box 3 - Total Premiums | Yes | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. |
| AS | Box 4 - FMV of QLAC | Yes | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. |
| AT | Box 5a - January | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| AU | Box 5a - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 31 | |
| AV | Box 5b - February | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| AW | Box 5b - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 29 | |
| AX | Box 5c - March | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| AY | Box 5c - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 31 | |
| AZ | Box 5d - April | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BA | Box 5d - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 30 | |
| BB | Box 5e - May | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BC | Box 5e - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 31 | |
| BD | Box 5f - June | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BE | Box 5f - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 30 | |
| BF | Box 5g - July | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BG | Box 5g - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 31 | |
| BH | Box 5h - August | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BI | Box 5h - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 31 | |
| BJ | Box 5i - September | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BK | Box 5i - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 30 | |
| BL | Box 5j - October | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BM | Box 5j - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 31 | |
| BN | Box 5k - November | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BO | Box 5k - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 30 | |
| BP | Box 5l - December | 1000 | $0 to $999,999,999,999,999 Cannot be negative Digits only except 1 decimal is allowed Must have no more than two digits after the decimal. Check for long numbers in money amount fields that may have been formatted in scientific notation. For example: 1.045E+5. | |
| BQ | Box 5l - Day of the month | 10 | Must be an integer between 1 and 31 |
What the checker does
- Header: reports missing, extra or reordered columns compared with the 1098-Q template.
- Safe fixes: trims stray spaces, writes amounts as plain numbers, leaves $0 cells empty, fills empty Y/N boxes with N, adds dashes to TINs from the TIN type, restores ZIP leading zeros, converts state names to codes and rewrites dates.
- Errors to fix yourself: required columns left empty, values over the length limit, codes that are not in the allowed list, invalid TINs, ZIP codes and dates.
- Split: writes files of up to 250 records and under 100KB, keeping your header row.
Date columns: the IRS guidelines ask for MM/DD/YYYY but also say "Max 8 characters, Digits only". The checker accepts both MM/DD/YYYY and MMDDYYYY. If the portal rejects one, try the other.
For 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC, the main IRIS CSV tool goes further: it builds the template from QuickBooks, Excel or FIRE files.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I download the official 1098-Q CSV template?
Sign in to the IRIS Taxpayer Portal, open Upload CSV with Form Data, choose 1098-Q and the tax year, and select Download. The formatting guidelines are linked in the FAQ box on the same page.
How many 1098-Q records can one CSV hold?
Up to 250 records per file, not counting the header, and the file must be 100KB or less. The portal then submits at most 100 forms at a time.
What does "required" mean here?
The IRS guidelines mark these columns with an asterisk. Other columns can still become required by a rule, for example a TIN type when a TIN is entered.
Sources
- IRS: TY2025 IRIS CSV Template Formatting Guidelines (ZIP)
- IRS Publication 5717, IRIS Taxpayer Portal User Guide (Rev. 9-2026)
Last reviewed November 1, 2026.