The IRS is retiring Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) and replacing it with the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS). This isn’t a surface-level system upgrade; it’s the most significant structural change to U.S. information reporting in four decades.
This playbook equips tax, IT, finance and compliance leaders with the clarity needed to understand what’s changing and to make a defensible governance decision before FIRE is permanently retired.
IRIS transforms information reporting from a once-a-year filing exercise into a recurring, infrastructure-level responsibility. Every organization will inherit permanent technical debt under this new model. The real question lies in whether that debt lives inside your organization or is absorbed by a partner built to manage it.
Build versus buy is not a software preference. It is a governance decision about risk ownership, long-term staffing, and filing season accountability.
What begins as a “12-month XML project” often evolves into a multi-year compliance engineering program. Uncover where timelines slip, why certification resets derail schedules and how total cost of ownership expands beyond initial projections.
From cross-functional dependency failures to annual recertification burdens, understand the friction points that quietly disrupt filing season readiness.
Time to compliance, total cost of ownership, scalability and regulatory change ownership. Break down how these forces shape long-term risk, whether modeled intentionally or not.
Theory is useful. Operational reality is decisive. Consider each institutional path and assess expanded timelines, staffing realities, certification resets and long-term technical debt exposure.
If you are accountable for filing season performance, certification readiness, or information return accuracy, IRIS directly impacts your operating model. Evaluate build versus buy with clarity before the deadline forces the decision.