The 2026 1099-S Form changed. Here’s what it means for your office.
Rick Vaughan, EVP of Product, AccuTitle
When tax forms change, you need to know before you’re in the middle of filing. The IRS has issued an updated 1099-S Form for use starting in 2026. This is the form that reports real estate sale proceeds to the IRS. It covers sale transactions you’ve completed in the 2026 calendar year. You won’t file it with the IRS until early 2027, but the information you need to collect starts at the closing table.
The form now captures more detailed information, including expanded fields for sellers with foreign addresses and new details about any digital assets received as part of the sale proceeds.
What is Form 1099-S, and why does it land on you?
Form 1099-S reports what a seller received when they transferred real estate. The seller gets a copy. The IRS gets a copy. As the settlement agent listed on the Closing Disclosure, your office is typically the one responsible for filing it.
If you use AccuTitle’s 1099-S service through AccuAir, TitleFusion, Closers’ Choice, or Landtech, this happens through that system. The changes below are exactly what we’re updating to accommodate.
If you’re a title agent in New York using TrackerPro, this filing responsibility works differently for you. In New York, real estate closings are conducted by attorneys, who serve as the settlement agent and assume the 1099-S filing responsibility that comes with it.
Four things that changed on the 2026 form:
1. Gross proceeds is now three boxes instead of one
The old form had a single Box 2 for gross proceeds. The 2026 form splits it:
- Box 2a: Total gross proceeds. The total amount. Box 2a equals Box 2b plus Box 2c.
- Box 2b: Cash gross proceeds. Proceeds received in cash, notes, or assumed liabilities.
- Box 2c: Digital asset gross proceeds. Proceeds received in cryptocurrency or other digital assets.
For most closings, Box 2c will be $0. But your system still needs to generate the new three-box layout.
2. Country is now a dedicated field
Both the filer’s address block and the transferor’s address block now include a separate Country field. The IRS specifies country codes, a standardized alphanumeric list, not freeform country names.
For domestic closings, this is a non-event. For any seller with a foreign address, you’ll need the correct IRS country code, not just whatever was typed on the settlement statement. If you work with foreign-national sellers, this one’s worth flagging.
3. Box numbers shifted throughout the form
This is the one that causes the most confusion. The information didn’t change, the locations did:
- Buyer’s real estate tax moved from Box 6 to Box 4.
- Foreign person checkbox moved from Box 5 to Box 7.
- Box 5 is now reserved for future use.
If anything in your current process references specific box numbers, those references need updating.
4. Four new boxes for digital assets
If any seller in a 2026 closing received cryptocurrency or another digital asset as part of their proceeds, the form now requires:
- Box 8a: The digital token identifier (DTIF code) for the asset.
- Box 8b: The full name of the digital asset.
- Box 8c: The number of units received, to 18 decimal places.
- Box 8d: The date the digital asset was received.
No digital assets involved? These boxes stay blank. But if a contract included payment in Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other digital asset, you need this information before you can file.
Does this affect every closing?
The form structure changes apply to all 2026 filings. The box renumbering, the country field, and the three-way proceeds split affect every settlement agent this year.
The digital asset fields only come into play when they’re relevant. For most residential transactions, they won’t be. But it’s worth a quick look at your 2026 closings to confirm.
What AccuTitle’s team is doing
The product teams for AccuAir, TitleFusion, Landtech, and Closers’ Choice are updating their systems to reflect the new form. When the update is ready, you’ll hear from us and we’ll walk you through what changed in the software.
What to do right now
- Check your 2026 closings for digital asset transactions. If a seller received cryptocurrency as consideration, you’ll need the asset name, DTIF code, unit count, and date before you file. Better to identify those files now.
- Confirm country information for foreign transferors. If any of your sellers have a non-US address, verify you have the correct IRS country code on file, not just a country name written out.
- Watch for a product update related to 1099-S. We’ll notify you when it’s live. You won’t need to manually navigate the new box structure. That’s our job.
Filing season is still months away. That’s exactly when to get ahead of this.
Sources: 2026 Form 1099-S, Instructions for Form 1099-S, General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, 2025 1099-S Reporting Guide
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