SEC. 2. TAPE SPECIFICATIONS

.01. IRS/MCC can process most magnetic tape files if the following specifications are followed:

(a) 9-track EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) with:

(1) Odd parity (2) Recording density—1600 or 6250 BPI (3) If you use UNISYS Series 1100, you must submit an interchange tape. (b) 9-track ASCII (American Standard Coded Information Interchange) with:

(1) Odd parity (2) Recording density—1600 or 6250 BPI .02 All tape files must have the following characteristics:

(a) 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) wide computer grade magnetic tape, (b) Tape thickness: 1.0 or 1.5 mils, (c) Reel diameter: 10.5 inch (26.67 cm), 8.5 inch (21.59 cm), or 7 inch (17.78 cm) and (d) Reel of tape up to 2400 feet (731.52 m). .03 All records, including Header and Trailer Labels (if used) must be transmitted using the same density. .04 The tape records defined in this revenue procedure may be blocked subject to the following:

(a) A block must not exceed 32,550 tape positions. (b) If the use of blocked records would result in a short block, all remaining positions of the block must be filled with 9’s; how-

ever, the last block of the file may be filled with 9’s or truncated. Do not pad a block with blanks. (c) All records, except the header and trailer labels, may be blocked or unblocked. A record may not contain any control fields

or block descriptor fields which describe the length of the block or the logical records within the block. The number of log- ical records within a block (the blocking factor) must be constant in every block with the exception of the last block which may be shorter (see item b above). The block length must be evenly divisible by 350. (d) All data records are a fixed record length of 350 positions and may not span blocks. .05 Labeled or unlabeled tapes may be submitted. .06 For the purposes of this revenue procedure the following must be used:

Tape Mark: (a) Used to signify the physical end of the recording on tape. (b) For even parity, use BCD configuration 001111 (8421). (c) May follow the header label and precede and/or follow the trailer label. .07 Do not submit an employee Form W–4 record without the required employer identification information. Every record must contain both employee and employer data.

SEC. 3. 5 ¹ ⁄4-INCH AND 3 ¹ ⁄2-INCH DISKETTE SPECIFICATIONS

.01 To be compatible, a diskette file must meet the following specifications:

(a) 5 ¹ ⁄4- or 3 ¹ ⁄2-inches in diameter. (b) Data must be recorded in standard ASCII code. (c) Records must be a fixed length of 350 bytes per record. (d) Delimiter character commas (,) must not be used. (e) Positions 349 and 350 of each record have been reserved for carriage return/line feed (cr/lf) characters. (f) Filename of QWFTAX must be used. Do not enter any other data in this field. This extension will indicate the sequence of

the diskettes within the file. For example, the first diskette will be named QWFTAX.001, the second diskette will be QWFTAX.002, etc. (g) A diskette file may consist of multiple diskettes as long as the file naming conventions are adhered to. (h) Diskettes must meet one of the following specifications:

1998–13 I.R.B. 31 March 30, 1998

Capacity Tracks Sides/Density Sector Size

1.44 mb 96tpi hd 512 1.44 mb 135tpi hd 512 1.2 mb 96tpi hd 512 720 kb 48tpi ds/dd 512 360 kb 48tpi ds/dd 512 320 kb 48tpi ds/dd 512 180 kb 48tpi ss/dd 512 160 kb 48tpi ss/dd 512

.02 5 ¹ ⁄4- and 3 ¹ ⁄2-inch diskettes are only acceptable if they were created using MS/DOS.