Rev. Proc. 80-8
Rev. Proc. 80-8; 1980-1 C.B. 592
- Cross-Reference
26 CFR 601.602: Forms and instructions.
(Also Part I, Sections 3402, 6001, 6361; 31.3402(b)-1,
31.3402(f)(5)-1, 31.3402(h)(4)-1, 31-3402(p)-1, 31.6001-5,
31.6361-1.)
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citationnot available
Superseded by Rev. Proc. 84-41
PART "A" GENERAL
Section 1. Purpose
.01 The purpose of this Revenue Procedure is to provide the requirements and conditions for submitting certain Forms W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificates, on magnetic tape instead of filing paper returns. All employers are required to send to the Internal Revenue Service copies of all Forms W-4 submitted by their employees who claim the following:
(a) 10 or more withholding allowances, or
(b) exempt status and usually earn more than $200 a week at the time the Form W-4 was filed.
Forms W-4 information may be filed on magnetic tape and sent quarterly to the Service beginning with the quarter ending June 30, 1980. The due date for the first submission of Forms W-4 on magnetic tape to the Internal Revenue Service is July 31, 1980.
Sec. 2. Application for Tape Reporting
.01 Tape reporting is not restricted to employers with the ability to submit all their information on magnetic tape; a combination of tape records and paper documents is acceptable as long as there is no duplication or omission of documents.
.02 Employers or transmitters who desire to file statements in the form of magnetic tape must first file a letter of application. This letter should be addressed to the attention of the magnetic media coordinator of one of the following service centers:
(a) Internal Revenue Service
Andover Service Center
Post Office Box 311
Andover, MA 01810
(b) Internal Revenue Service
Brookhaven Service Center
Post Office Box 486
Holtsville, NY 11742
(c) Internal Revenue Service
Philadelphia Service Center
Post Office Box 245
Bensalem, PA 19020
(d) Internal Revenue Service
Atlanta Service Center
Post Office Box 47421
Doraville, GA 30362
(e) Internal Revenue Service
Memphis Service Center
Post Office Box 1900
Memphis, TN 38101
(f) Internal Revenue Service
Cincinnati Service Center
Post Office Box 267
Covington, KY 41019
(g) Internal Revenue Service
Kansas City Service Center
Post Office Box 5321
Kansas City, MO 64131
(h) Internal Revenue Service
Austin Service Center
Post Office Box 934
Austin, TX 78767
(i) Internal Revenue Service
Ogden Service Center
Post Office Box 9941
Ogden, UT 84409
(j) Internal Revenue Service
Fresno Service Center
Post Office Box 12866
Fresno, CA 93779
The letter of request must contain the following:
(a) Name, address, and employer identification number of the person, organization, or entity making the request.
(b) Name, title, and telephone number of the person to contact regarding the request.
(c) Estimate of the number of Forms W-4 to be reported in tape format, and the number, if any, expected to be reported on copies of paper Forms W-4.
(d) Type and nature of equipment to be used to prepare the tape; i.e., manufacturer and model of the mainframe and tape drives, tape width (1/2", 3/4", etc.), density (characters per inch), recording code (BCD, Excess 3, Octal, etc.).
(e) Signature of the official responsible for the preparation and submission of Forms W-4 to the Service.
.03 The Service will act on applications and notify applicants of authorization to file or of disapproval within 30 days of receipt of an application. No magnetic tape returns may be filed with the Service until authorization to file is received.
.04 Only employers or transmitters using equipment compatible with the Service's equipment will have their applications approved. Compatible tape characteristics are shown in PART "B" Section 1.01.
.05 In general, once authorization to file on magnetic tape has been granted, such approval will continue in effect in succeeding years, providing that the requirements of this Revenue Procedure are met and there are no equipment changes by the employer or transmitter. However, new applications are required whenever any of the following situations arise:
(a) If the users change from equipment producing compatible tapes.
(b) If the users submit tapes that are not listed as compatible.
(c) If the users discontinue tape reporting for one or more years, then decide to resume this method of reporting.
Sec. 3. Filing Dates
.01 Magnetic tape reporting to the Service must be quarterly, following the quarter ending due dates below:
Period Covered Due Date
Jan. 1 thru March 31 April 30
Apr. 1 thru June 30 July 31
July 1 thru Sept. 30 October 31
Oct. 1 thru Dec. 31 January 31
The first due date of either paper or tape Forms W-4 is July 31, 1980.
Sec. 4. Filing of Tape Reports
.01 Packaging, shipping, and mailing instructions will be provided by the Service to all approved filers within 45 days of the granting of approval. A magnetic tape reporting package, which includes all necessary transmittals and labels, will be mailed to all approved filers.
.02 Employers or transmitters may submit a portion of their Forms W-4 information on magnetic tape and the remainder on paper forms, provided there is NO DUPLICATE FILING. The magnetic tape records and paper forms must be filed at the same location, i.e., the appropriate service center, but in separate shipments. A Service-provided transmittal form must accompany all magnetic tape shipments to the service center. (For all paper Forms W-4 sent to IRS, employers or transmitters must supply a cover letter which includes the employer's name, address, employer identification number, and number of Forms W-4 being submitted.)
.03 The affidavit which appears on the Service-provided transmittal for tape submission must be signed by the employer, the transmitter, service bureau, or disbursing agent who must:
a. have the authority to sign the affidavit under an agency agreement (either oral, written, or implied) that is valid under State law; and
b. have the responsibility (either oral, written, or implied) conferred on it by the employer to request taxpayer identifying numbers of employees reported on magnetic tape or paper returns; and
c. sign the affidavit and add the caption "For: (name of employer)."
.04 Although a duly authorized agent signs the affidavit, the employer is held responsible for the accuracy of Forms W-4 contained on magnetic tape.
.05 The magnetic tape specifications contained in PART "B" of this Revenue Procedure must be strictly adhered to. Deviations will not be permitted under any circumstances. All magnetic tape filings will be reviewed for completeness of required fields and for proper format. Tapes failing to meet the specifications contained herein will not be processed but will be returned to the filer for either correction and resubmission of tapes or for submission of copies of paper Forms W-4.
Sec. 5. Processing of Tape Statements
.01 The Service will copy the information from the original tapes and will return the original tapes to the employer. Normally tapes will be returned either within three months after the quarterly due date for submission to the Service, or within three months after actual receipt of acceptable tapes, whichever is later.
Sec. 6. Effect on Paper Documents
.01 Magnetic tape reporting to the Internal Revenue Service eliminates the need for submission of copies of paper Forms W-4. However, employers must maintain the original Form W-4 for their records.
.02 If only a portion of the statements is reported on magnetic tape and the remainder is reported on paper forms, those paper statements must be filed on the prescribed forms.
Sec. 7. Additional Information Requests for additional copies of this Revenue Procedure or for additional information on tape reporting of Forms W-2, W-2P, 1099, 1087, or 1042S should be addressed to the attention of the magnetic media coordinator of the appropriate Internal Revenue Center listed in Section 2.02 above.
PART "B" MAGNETIC TAPE SPECIFICATIONS
SECTION 1. GENERAL
.01 These specifications prescribe the required format and content of the records to be included in the file, but not the methods or equipment to be used in their preparation. Usually, the Service will be able to process, without translation, any compatible tape file. To be compatible, a tape file must meet all of the following specifications:
(a) Type of Tape--1/2 inch Mylar base, oxide coated
(b) Recording Density--556 or 800 bits per inch (BPI)
(c) Parity--Even or Odd
(d) Interrecord gap--3/4 inch
(e) Recording Code--7 channel binary coded decimal (BCD)
.02 Conversion facilities are currently available for the following tapes:
(a) 9 channel EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) with
(1) Odd Parity
(2) 800, 1600, or 6250 Densities
(b) 9 channel ASCII (American Standard Coded Information Interchange) with
(1) Odd Parity
(2) 800, 1600, or 6250 Densities
.03 Although the Service can process after translation, tapes created at 6250 BPI, it is preferred that filers submit 1600 BPI tapes if possible.
.04 The employer or the transmitter must affix an external label to each tape with the following information:
(a) Name of Transmitter
(b) Number of data records on that reel
(c) Density (556, 800, 1600, or 6250 BPI)
(d) Channel (7 or 9)
(e) Parity (odd or even)
(f) Manufacturer and model of main frame and tape drives
(g) Sequence number of reel, and total number of reels in the file (i.e., 1 of 3, 2 of 4)
.05 All records, including Header and Trailer Labels (if used), must be transmitted at the same density.
.06 Do not submit an employee W-4 record without the required employer identification information. Every record must contain both employee and employer data.
SEC. 2. LABEL CONVENTIONS
.01 Header Labels, Trailer Labels, Record Marks, and Tape Marks are all optional. They may be used as required by the transmitter's equipment or programming. If used they must conform to the following standards:
(a) Header Labels
(1) Transmitters may use standard headers, provided they begin with 1HDR, HDR1, VOL1, or VOL2.
(2) Header labels may not exceed 80 characters in length.
(b) Trailer Labels
(1) Standard trailer labels may be used provided that they begin with 1EOR, 1EOF, EOR1, or EOF1.
(2) Trailer labels may not exceed 80 characters in length.
(c) Record Marks
(1) Special character used to separate blocked records on tape.
(2) Can be written only at the end of a record or block.
(3) For odd parity tapes, use BCD bit configuration of 011010; for even parity use 111010.
(4) All records are of uniform length; therefore, marks are not necessary on this file.
(d) Tape Marks
(1) Used to signify the physical end of the recording on tape.
(2) Tape marks, if used, must be BCD configuration 001111 in even parity.
(3) May follow the header label and precede and/or follow the trailer label.
SEC. 3. RECORD LENGTH AND BLOCKING
.02 Tape records prescribed in the specifications may be blocked or unblocked, subject to the following:
(a) All data records are of a fixed length of 400 positions.
(b) All records may be blocked, except header and trailer labels.
(c) If blocking is used (more than one record per block) the desired blocking factor is ten records per block. At no time may a block contain more than 4,000 characters, but a smaller blocksize may be used if necessary. If sufficient records are not available for a full block, the remainder should be "padded" with 9's to fill all unused positions. Do not pad the block with blanks, or create blank records.
RECORD NAME: W-4 MAGNETIC TAPE RECORD
Tape
Position Field Title Length Description and Remarks
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1-9 Employee Social 9 Required. Must be the valid 9-
Security Number digit number assigned to the
(SSN) employee. DO NOT ENTER
HYPHENS, ALPHA CHARACTERS, ALL
9's, or ALL ZEROES.
10-44 Employee Name 35 Required. Enter the name of
Line 1 the employee whose SSN appears
in tape positions 1-9. Enter
the complete name in the
following order: first name,
middle name (if present), and
surname. (Use initials for the
first and middle names where
necessary to insure that the
entire employee surname fits
in tape positions 10-44.) If
fewer than 35 characters are
required, left justify and
fill unused positions with
blanks. ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS
ARE ALPHAS, HYPHENS, BLANKS, A
MINIMUM OF ONE AND A MAXIMUM
OF TWO CARETS (<).
(1) Blanks must be surrounded
by alphas or continued to
the end of the field
(e.g., ab b, aba).
(2) Hyphens must never occur
in the first position of a
name, must not be
surrounded by blanks, and
must be followed by at
least one alpha (e.g., a-
aaa, aaa-a).
(3) A caret is used to define
an internal name control.
It must immediately
precede the employee
surname in place of the
blank. A second caret is
used to separate a suffix
from the surname (e.g.,
JOHN J<BLACK; BILL<OAK<JR;
AMY FERN<BROWN<DECD).
45-79 Employee Name 35 Optional. This line is
Line 2 designated for an "in care of"
(c/o) situation. Left justify
with blanks. ALLOWABLE
CHARACTERS ARE ALPHAS, BLANKS,
HYPHENS, AND SLASHES.
80-114 Employee Street 35 Required. Enter street address
Address of employee. Left justify and
fill unused positions with
blanks. Fill with blanks if
street address is unavailable.
ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS ARE
ALPHAS, NUMERICS, BLANKS,
HYPHENS, SLASHES, AND NO MORE
THAN ONE AMPERSAND.
115-139 Employee City 25 Required. Enter city of
employee. Left justify and
fill unused positions with
blanks. Fill with blanks if
city is unavailable. If
foreign address, enter city
and country.
140-141 Employee State 2 Required. Enter state of
employee; must be one of the
following:
State Code
Alabama AL
Alaska AK
Arizona AZ
Arkansas AR
California CA
Colorado CO
Connecticut CT
Delaware DE
District of Columbia DC
Florida FL
Georgia GA
Guam GU
Hawaii HI
Idaho ID
Illinois IL
Indiana IN
Iowa IA
Kansas KS
Kentucky KY
Louisiana LA
Maine ME
Maryland MD
Massachusetts MA
Michigan MI
Minnesota MN
Mississippi MS
Missouri MO
Montana MN
Nebraska NE
Nevada NV
New Hampshire NH
New Jersey NJ
New Mexico NM
New York NY
North Carolina NC
North Dakota ND
Ohio OH
Oklahoma OK
Oregon OR
Pennsylvania PA
Puerto Rico PR
Rhode Island RI
South Carolina SC
South Dakota SD
Tennessee TN
Texas TX
Utah UT
Vermont VT
Virgin Islands VI
Virginia VA
Washington WA
West Virginia WV
Wisconsin WI
Wyoming WY
Foreign Address XX
Fill with blanks if Employee
State is unavailable and
address is not "Foreign
Address."
142-146 Employee ZIP Code 5 Required. Enter ZIP Code of
employee. Fill with blanks if
unavailable. ALLOWABLE
CHARACTERS ARE FIVE (5)
NUMERICS OR FIVE (5) BLANKS.
147 Marital Status 1 Required. Enter appropriate
code from the table below:
Marital Status Designated Code
Single S
Married M
Married, withhold at W
single rate
No marital status A
designated
148 Exempt Status 1 Required. Enter "E" if
employee claims exempt status;
otherwise, enter blank.
149 Student Status 1 Required. If full-time student
status is claimed, enter "Y";
if not, enter "N". If no
entry, enter "B".
150-151 Allowances 2 Required. Must be a two (2)
digit numeric field
corresponding to the number of
allowances claimed by
employee. (It is not necessary
to file this W-4 with IRS if
the number of allowances is
less than ten (10) and exempt
status is not claimed.) If no
entry, enter zeroes.
152-158 Additional Amount 7 Required. Enter numerics only.
of Withholding Enter the additional amount of
withholding each pay period.
Field is dollars and cents.
Right-justify and zero-fill.
Do not enter dollar signs,
commas, decimal points, or
negative numbers. If no entry,
zero-fill.
159-163 Number of W-4's 5 Required. This field is a
Submitted running total of all W-4's
submitted by the employer. The
first W-4 on the file must
start with the value of one
(1); increment by one (1) for
each subsequent W-4
thereafter. Values should be
right justified and zero
filled.
164-169 W-4 Date 6 Required. Enter date located
on signature line of W-4. If
no date entered, generate
current system date. Format as
MMDDYY where MM = 01-12, DD =
01-31 and YY = 80, 81, etc.
170-178 Employer 9 Required. The 9-digit number
Identification assigned to the employer by
Number IRS. DO NOT ENTER HYPHENS,
ALPHA CHARACTERS, ALL 9's, or
ALL ZEROES.
179-213 Employer Name 35 Required. Enter the name of
Line 1 the employer as it appears on
your employment tax forms
(e.g., Form 941). Any
extraneous information must be
deleted from this name line.
Left justify and fill with
blanks. ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS
ARE ALPHAS, BLANKS, NUMERICS,
AMPERSAND, AND HYPHENS.
214-248 Employer Name 35 Optional. If the employer name
Line 2 requires more space than is
available in Employer Name
Line 1, enter the remaining
portion of the name in this
field. Left-justify and fill
with blanks. ALLOWABLE
CHARACTERS ARE ALPHAS, BLANKS,
NUMERICS, AMPERSAND, HYPHENS,
AND SLASHES.
249-283 Employer Name 35 Optional. If the employer name
Line 3 requires more space than is
available in Employer Name
Lines 1 and 2, enter the
remaining portion of the name
in this field. Left-justify
and fill with blanks.
ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS ARE
ALPHAS, BLANKS, NUMERICS,
AMPERSAND, HYPHENS AND
SLASHES.
284-318 Employer Name 35 Optional. If the employer name
Line 4 requires more space than is
available in Employer Name
Lines 1, 2 and 3, enter the
remaining portion of the name
in this field. Left-justify
and fill with blanks.
ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS ARE
ALPHAS, BLANKS, NUMERICS,
AMPERSAND, HYPHENS, AND
SLASHES.
319-353 Employer Street 35 Required. Enter street address
Address of employer. Left justify and
fill unused positions with
blanks. Fill with blanks if
street address is unavailable.
ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS ARE
ALPHAS, NUMERICS, HYPHENS,
AMPERSAND, SLASHES, AND
BLANKS.
354-378 Employer City 25 Required. Enter city of
employer. Left justify and
fill unused positions with
blanks. ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS
ARE ALPHAS, HYPHENS, AND
BLANKS.
379-380 Employer State 2 Required. Enter State Code of
Employer. Must be one of the
state abbreviations shown
above in the state
abbreviation table for
Employee State (Tape Positions
140-141).
381-385 Employer ZIP Code 5 Required. Enter ZIP Code of
Employer. ALLOWABLE CHARACTERS
ARE FIVE (5) NUMERICS OR FIVE
(5) BLANKS.
386-390 Transmitter Control 5 Required. Enter 5-digit
Code (TCC) Transmitter Control Code
assigned by the IRS.
391 "BLANK" 1 Required. Enter character used
Representation to represent a blank.
392 "HYPHEN" 1 Required. Enter character used
Representation to represent a hyphen.
393 "SLASH" 1 Required. Enter character used
Representation to represent a slash.
394 "AMPERSAND" 1 Required. Enter character used
Representation to represent an ampersand.
395 "CARET" 1 Required. Enter character used
Representation to represent a caret.
396-400 IRS USE 5 Blanks.
- Cross-Reference
26 CFR 601.602: Forms and instructions.
(Also Part I, Sections 3402, 6001, 6361; 31.3402(b)-1,
31.3402(f)(5)-1, 31.3402(h)(4)-1, 31-3402(p)-1, 31.6001-5,
31.6361-1.)
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citationnot available