SEC. 1. REQUIREMENTS FOR

SUBSTITUTE ‘‘PRIVATELY PRINTED’’ FORMS SUBMITTED TO SSA (FORMS W–2, COPY A, AND FORMS W–3)

.01 Employers may file privately printed substitute Forms W–2 and W–3 with SSA. The substitute form must be an exact replica of the IRS printed form (or official reproduction proof) with respect to layout and contents because it will be read by machine. The Government Printing Office (GPO) symbol must be deleted (see Sec. 1.16, below). The specifications and allowable tolerances for the Copy A of substitute Forms W–2 are provided later in this Revenue Procedure. See Exhibit A for Form W–2 specifications. The specifications for Forms W–3 are provided in Exhibit B.

.02 Paper for substitute Forms W–2, Copy A, and Form W–3 (cut sheets and continuous pinfeed forms) that are to be filed with SSA must be white 100% bleached chemical wood, 18–20 pound paper only, optical character recognition (OCR) bond produced in accordance with the specifications shown as follows: Paper Requirements

1 Acidity: pH value, average, not less than . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 2 Basis Weight 17 x 22 500 cut sheets. . . . . . . . . . . . . .18–20 Metric equivalent grams per. sq. meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60–75 A tolerance of ±5 pct. shall be allowed.

3 Stiffness: Average, each direction, not less than Gurley milligrams—

Cross direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Machine direction. . . . . . . . . . . .80 4 Tearing Strength: Average, each direction, not less than—Grams . .40 5 Opacity: Average, not less than—Percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 6 Reflectivity: Average not less than—percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 7 Thickness: Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inch 0.0038 Metric equivalent . . . . . . . mm 0.097 A tolerance of ±0.0005 inch (0.0127mm) shall be allowed. Paper shall not vary more than 0.0004 inch (0.012mm) from one edge to the other. 8 Porosity: Average, not less than—seconds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 9 Finish (smoothness): Average, each side—seconds. .20–55 (For information only, the Sheffield equivalent unit . .170–d100 10 Dirt: Average, each side, not to exceed— Parts per million . . . . . . .8

NOTE: Reclaimed fiber in any percentage is permitted, provided the requirements of this standard are met. DO NOT USE RECYCLED PAPER.

.03 All printing for Copy A (of Forms W–2) and Form W–3 will be in red OCR dropout ink, as specified below, except for the form identifying numbers ‘22222’ or ‘33333’ at the top of the form, as well as the tax year at the bottom of the form (see Exhibits C and D), must be printed in non- reflective black ink. All other printing will be in red OCR drop-out ink meeting, or comparable to, the specifications in this paragraph. The OCR drop-out ink for paper Forms W–2, Copy A, and W–3 is specified as Flint Ink (formerly Sinclair and Valentine) J–6983 red ink or equivalent. This is the same ink that is used for Copy A of the Form 1099 series. The use of this is required for 1997 Forms W–3 and W–2, Copy A. NOTE: Printing in any other red OCR dropout ink must be cleared by contacting Banc-Tech Corp., Attn: Forms Designer & Analyst, P.O. Box 660204, MS–77, Dallas, TX 75266 (214–579– 6927—This is a voice mail number. Leave a message and your call will be returned).

.04 Type must be substantially identical in size and shape with corresponding type on the official form. The form identifying number MUST be printed in non-reflective black ink using an OCR–A font; 10 characters per inch.

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1. On Form W–3 and Copy A of Forms W–2, all the perimeter rules must be 1-point (0.014 inch), while all other rules must be one-half point (0.007 inch).
2. Vertical rules must be parallel to the left edge of the form; horizontal rules parallel to the top edge. .05 Two official Forms W–2 (Copy A), or one official Form W–3 are contained on a single page that is 7 inches wide (exclusive of any snap-stubs) by 11 inches deep. The form identifying number for the official forms (7 inches wide) is ‘22222’ (5 digits) for Form W–2 and ‘33333’ (5 digits) for Form W–3. The top margin for 1997 Forms W–3 and W–2, Copy A is .375 inch (3/8 inch). The right margin must be .15 inch and the left margin .35 inch (plus or minus .0313 inch). The margins are unchanged from 1996 . Margins must be free of all printing. For Forms W–2, Copy A, the combination width of Box 1, ‘‘Control number’’, and the box containing the form identifying number (22222) must always be 2.0 inches. For Form W–3, the combined width of these boxes must always be 2.2 inches.

NOTE: All form identifying numbers are to be printed in non-reflective black ink, using OCR-A font, printed 10 characters per inch.

.06 The depth of the individual scannable image on a page must be the same as that of the IRS printed forms. For Form W–2, the depth is 4.833 inches (see Exhibit A). The scannable image depth of the Form W–3 on a page must be 4.167 inches (see Exhibit B).

.07 The words ‘‘Do NOT Cut or Separate Forms on This Page’’ must be printed in red OCR dropout ink between the two Forms W–2 on Copy A only (see Exhibit A). Perforations are required on all copies (except Copy A) to enable the separation of individual forms. Continuous pinfeed copy A forms must be separated at the page perforation into individual 11� deep pages before submission to SSA. The pinfeed strips must also be removed. However, the two W–2 documents contained on the 11� deep page must not be separated.

.08 The words ‘‘For Paperwork Re- duction Act Notice, see separate in- structions’’, must be printed in red OCR drop-out ink on Forms W–2, Copy A (see Exhibit A for format and location).

.09 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Number must be printed

on each ply of Form W–2 and W–3 (see Exhibits A and B for format and location).

.10 The section titled ‘‘Where to File’’ in the general instructions on the employer’s copy of the official Form W–3, must be printed in its entirety on all substitute Forms W–3 (see Exhibit B). Household employers filing Forms W–2 for household employees should send the forms to the same address shown listed in the instructions .

Note: Household employers, even those with only one household em- ployee, must file Form W–3 with Form W–2. On Form W–2, mark the ‘‘Hshld. Emp.’’ Box in Box 15, and on Form W–3 mark the ‘‘Hshld.’’ Box in Box b.

.11 The Paperwork Reduction Act Notice must be printed on Form W–3 (see Exhibit B for format and location).

.12 Privately printed continuous sub- stitute Forms W–2, Copy A, must be perforated at each 11 - page depth. No perforations are allowed between the individual forms (5 1/2 inch Forms W–2) on a single copy page of Copy A. Continuous pinfeed Copy A forms must be separated at the page perforation prior to submitting them to SSA. Two Copy A forms are contained on one page. The two copies must remain together on the page. Only the pages are to be separated (burst). Perforations are required between all the other individual copies on a page (Copies 1, B, C, 2, and D) included in the set.

.13 The back of a substitute Form W–2, Copy A, and Form W–3 (page 1) must be free of all printing.

.14 Spot carbons are NOT permitted for Copy A of Forms W–2 or for Form W–3. Interleaved carbon should be black and must be of good quality to assure legibility of information on all copies and to preclude smudging.

.15 Chemical transfer paper is permitted for Form W–2, Copy A, and Form W–3 only if the following standards are met:

1. Only chemically backed paper is acceptable for Copy A.

2. Carbon coated forms are not permitted. Front and back chemically treated paper cannot be processed properly by machine.

3. Chemically transferred images must be black in color.

.16 The GPO symbol must not be placed on substitute Copy A of Forms W–2.

.17 The Catalog Number, shown on the 1997 Form W–2 as ‘‘Cat. No.

10134D ’’, and the Catalog Number shown on the 1996 Form W–3 as ‘‘Cat. No. 10159Y ’’, is used for IRS distribution purposes and should not be printed on substitute forms.