SEC. 13. SPECIAL FORM 1040EZ

OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION/IMAGE CHARACTER RECOGNITION (OCR/ICR) REQUIREMENTS

.01 The Form 1040EZ is designed in OCR/ICR format. IRS has the capability to machine read this form by optical character recognition/image character recognition (OCR/ICR) equipment. Form 1040EZ data may also be filed electronically or on Form 1040PC.

.02 An acceptable substitute OCR/ ICR Form 1040EZ must generally be an exact replica of the official OCR/ICR reproduction proof with respect to layout, content and required OCR/ICR characteristics.

.03 The specific paper requirements which must be met for the development of a substitute (privately printed) OCR/ ICR Form 1040EZ include the following:

1 olor and quality of paper—Paper must be white, OCR/ICR grade bond, with no fluorescent additives or water marks, and with zero rag content.

2 Reflectivity of paper—Must be 80% or greater. 3 Opacity—The paper opacity ratio must be 80% or more.

4 Paper Weight—Specified paper weight is 20 lb. OCR/ICR bond (.0035�).

5 Dirt—Must not exceed 10 parts per million.

6 Finish (smoothness)—Must be between 90 and 160 units (Sheffield).

7 Porosity—Paper should have a Gurley reading between 15 and 95.

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8 Gloss—Paper with shiny or lustrous appearance (glossy) should be avoided.

9 Size—Form trim size must be 8� x 11�. .04 The specific ink requirements which must be met for this form include the following:

1 Print Color—The face of the form prints in black and green, the back prints in black only (70% screen).

2 Ink—Green ink used must be highly reflective OCR/ICR type, such as Flint J–27975, or an exact match. Black ink used must be non-reflective.

3 Face Registration—Black to green must be .02� (plus or minus) both horizontally and vertically.

4 Face Screen—Forms contain a green screened background equal to a 15% tone of 110-line screen. Follow registration marks on repro-proof for screen positioning. Handprinted boxes are included on Page 1 of the reproduction proof and should be printed as a 50% value of the recommended OCR/ ICR green ink. Inks used for handprinted boxes must reflect at least 90% of the background on which it is printed as measured in the visible range.

5 Face Margins—Approximately 2⁄6� head from top trimmed edge to screen ( ¹ ⁄2� to black image). 1⁄6� outside from trimmed edges to screen.

6 Back Margins— ¹ ⁄2� head, ⁵ ⁄16� foot, and ⁵ ⁄16� sides.

7 Back Screen—Back copy should be screened for 70% tone value.

.05 Typography Type must be substantially identical in both size and shape with corresponding type on the official form reproduction proof.

.06 To assure proper alignment and position of hand-printed characters representing return lines 1 through 10 tax data, they must be handprinted (entered) into the preprinted amount field boxes on the form. A #2 lead wooden pencil, or blue, and/or black ink pen (ball point, fountain, or felt-tipped) is recommended as the writing tool which will consistently provide the required stroke width and print contrast on entered characters.

.07 Reading of handprinted characters requires adherence to the following techniques.

1 Enter numeric amount digits carefully and clearly. Fill at least ² ⁄3 of the individual character box height, keeping the character within the box with no overlapping or touching characters. Specific required digit constraints are shown below.

2 When entering ‘‘fours’’, keep the top open.

3 When entering ‘‘ones’’, do not use serifs.

4 When entering ‘‘twos’’, do not add extra loops.

5 All character lines must be connected, with no gaps.

.08 All the general and detailed provisions of this Revenue Procedure apply (in addition to this specific OCR/ICR Section) for the development of substitute OCR/ICR Forms 1040EZ.