If by Postal Service — Internal Revenue Bulletin 1999-31

IRS-Martinsburg Computing Center Information Reporting Program Attn: Extension of Time Coordinator 240 Murall Drive Kearneysville, WV 25430

August 2, 1999 216 1999–31 I.R.B.

Note: Due to the large volume of mail received by IRS/MCC and the time factor involved in processing the Form 8809, it is imperative that the attention line be present on all envelopes or packages containing Extension of Time (EOT) requests.

.08 Requests for extensions of time to file postmarked by the United States Postal Service on or before the due date of the returns, and delivered by United States mail to the IRS/MCC after the due date, are treated as timely under the “timely mailing as timely filing” rule. A similar rule applies to designated private delivery services (PDSs). See Part A, Sec. 10, for more information on PDSs. For requests delivered by a designated PDS, but through a non-designated service, the actual date of receipt by IRS/MCC will be used as the filing date.

.09 Transmitters who submit their extensions of time requests magnetically or electronically will receive a letter from IRS/MCC with an attached list of the payers, based on information contained in the file, specifying approval and/or denial.

.10 Do not submit tax year 1999 extensions of time to file requests on magnetic media before January 1, 2000 or electronically before January 6, 2000.

.11 Filers may request an extension of time as soon as they are aware that an extension is necessary but not later than the due date of the return. It will take a minimum of 30 days for IRS/MCC to respond to an extension request. Under certain circumstances a request for an extension of time could be denied. In such cases, the transmitter receives a denial letter. When this denial letter is received, the transmitter has 20 days to provide the additional or necessary information and resubmit the extension request to IRS/MCC.

.12 Each piece of magnetic media must have an external media label containing the following information:

(a) Transmitter name (b) Transmitter Control Code (TCC) (c) Tax year (d) The words “Extension of Time” (e) Record count .13 A request for an extension of time to file is not automatically granted. Approval or denial is dependent on information provided on the Form 8809. If the Form 8809 is not completed properly, processing may be delayed or the request may be denied.

.14 If the first request for an extension of time to file was submitted magnetically or electronically, additional extension requests should be submitted in the same manner.

.15 If an additional extension of time is needed, a second Form 8809 and file may be submitted before the end of the initial extension period with a postmark reflecting the date mailed. Line 7 on the form should be checked to indicate that the original extension has been received and the additional extension is being requested.

.16 See Part A, Sec. 11, for complete information on requesting an extension of time to file information returns. If there are additional questions or concerns, contact IRS/MCC.

Sec. 2. Magnetic Tape, Tape Cartridge, 8mm, 4mm and QIC (Quarter Inch Cartridge), 3 ¹ ⁄2-inch

Diskette and Electronic Specifications

.01 Tape specifications are as follows:

(a) 9 track. (b) EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) or ASCII (American Standard Coded Information Inter

change) recording mode. (c) 1600 or 6250 BPI. (d) A block must not exceed 32,600 tape positions and must be a multiple of 200. (e) Record length of 200 bytes. (f) Labeled or unlabeled tapes may be submitted. .02 Tape cartridge specifications are as follows:

(a) Must be IBM 3480, 3490, or AS400 compatible. (b) Must meet American National Standard Institute (ANSI) standards and have the following characteristics:

(1) Tape cartridges will be ¹ ⁄2-inch tape contained in plastic cartridges which are approximately 4-inches by 5-inches by 1 inch in dimension. (2) Magnetic tape will be chromium dioxide particle based ¹ ⁄2-inch tape. (3) Cartridges will be 18-track or 36-track parallel. Indicate on the external media label if the tape cartridge is 18- or 36

track. (4) Mode will be full function. (5) The data may be compressed using EDRC (Memorex) or IDRC (IBM) compression. (6) Either EBCDIC or ASCII. (c) A block must not exceed 32,600 tape positions and must be a multiple of 200. (d) Record length of 200 bytes. (e) Labeled or unlabeled tape cartridges may be submitted.

1999–31 I.R.B. 217 August 2, 1999

.03 8mm, 4mm, and Quarter Inch Cartridge Specifications

(a) In most instances, IRS/MCC can process 8mm tape cartridges that meet the following specifications:

(1) Must meet American National Standard Institute (ANSI) standards, and have the following characteristics:

(a) Created from an AS400 operating system only. (b) 8mm (.315-inch) tape cartridges will be 2 ¹ ⁄4-inch by 3 ¹ ⁄4-inch. (c) The 8mm tape cartridges must meet the following specifications:

Tracks Density Capacity 1 20 (43245 BPI) 2.5 Gb 1 21 (45434 BPI) 5 Gb

(d) Mode will be full function. (e) Compressed data is not acceptable. (f) Either EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) or ASCII (American Standard Coded Infor mation Interchange) may be used. However, IRS/MCC encourages the use of EBCDIC. This information must appear on the external media label affixed to the cartridge. (g) A file may consist of more than one cartridge; however, no more than 250,000 documents may be transmitted per

file or per cartridge. The filename, for example; IRSEOT, will contain a three digit extension. The extension will indicate the sequence of the cartridge within the file, 1 of 3, 2 of 3, or 3 of 3, and would appear in the header label IRSEOT.001, IRSEOT.002, and IRSEOT.003 on each cartridge of the file. (2) The 8mm (.315-inch) tape cartridge records defined in this revenue procedure may be blocked subject to the following:

(a) A block must not exceed 32,600 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; however, 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 con

trol fields or block descriptor fields which describe the length of the block or the logical records within a block. The number of logical 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 200. (d) Various SAVE commands have been successful, however, the SAVE OBJECT COMMAND is not acceptable. (e) Records may not span blocks. (3) For faster processing, IRS/MCC encourages transmitters to use header labeled cartridges. IRSEOT may be used as a

suggested filename. (4) For the purposes of this revenue procedure, the following must be used:

Tape Mark: (a) Signifies 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. (5) IRS/MCC can only read one data file on a tape. A data file is a group of records which may or may not begin with a

tapemark, but must end with a trailer label. Any data beyond the trailer label cannot be read by IRS programs. (a) 4mm (.157-inch) cassettes are now acceptable with the following specifications:

(1) 4mm cassettes will be 2 ¹ ⁄4-inch by 3-inch. (2) The tracks are 1 (one). (3) The density is 19 (61000 BPI). (4) The typical capacity is DDS (DAT data storage) at 1.3 Gb or 2 Gb, or DDS-2 at 4 Gb. (5) The general specifications for 8mm cartridges will also apply to the 4mm cassettes. (b) Various Quarter Inch Cartridges (QIC) ( ¹ ⁄4-inch) are also acceptable.

(1) QIC cartridges will be 4� by 6�. (2) QIC cartridges must meet the following specifications:

Size Tracks Density Capacity QIC-24 8/9 5 (8000 BPI) 45Mb or 60Mb QIC-120 15 15 (10000 BPI) 120Mb or 200Mb QIC-150 18 16 (10000 BPI) 150Mb or 250Mb QIC-525 26 17 (16000 BPI) 525Mb QIC-1000 30 21 (36000 BPI) 1Gb QIC-2Gb 42 34 (40640 BPI) 2Gb

August 2, 1999 218 1999–31 I.R.B.

(3) The general specifications that apply to 8mm cartridges will also apply to QIC cartridges. .04 Diskette specifications are as follows:

(a) 3 ¹ ⁄2-inches in diameter. (b) ASCII recording mode only. Additional specifications may be found in Part B, Sec. 5, of this revenue procedure. (c) Record length of 200 bytes. (d) Diskettes must be created using the MS-DOS operating system. (e) Filename of IRSEOT must be used. No other filenames are acceptable. If a file will consist of more than one diskette, the

filename IRSEOT will contain a three-digit extension. This extension will indicate the sequence of the diskettes within the file. For example, the first diskette will be named IRSEOT.001, the second diskette will be name IRSEOT.002, etc. (f) Delimiter character commas (,) or quotes (‘’) must not be used. (g) Positions 199 and 200 of each record have been reserved for use as carriage return/line feed (cr/lf) characters, if applica

ble. .05 Electronic Filing specifications (See Note.)

(a) A transmitter must have a Transmitter Control Code (TCC). (b) Filers can determine the acceptability of files submitted by checking the file status area of the system. These reports

will be available on the electronic system within 5 business days if the Form 8809 is received timely by IRS/MCC.

Note: See Part C, Electronic Filing Specifications, for detailed information on filing with IRS/MCC electronically.

Sec. 3. Record Layout

.01 Positions 6 through 185 of the following record should contain information about the payer for whom the extension of time to file is being requested. Do not enter transmitter information in these fields. Only one TCC may be present in a file.

Record Layout for Extension of Time

Field Position Field Title Length Description and Remarks

1–5 Transmitter 5 Required. Enter the five digit Transmitter Control Code (TCC) issued Control Code by IRS. Only one TCC per file is acceptable.

6–14 Payer TIN 9 Required. Must be the valid nine-digit EIN/SSN assigned to the payer. Do not enter blanks, hyphens or alpha characters. All zeros, ones, twos, etc. will have the effect of an incorrect TIN. For foreign entities that are not required to have a TIN, this field may be blank; however, the Foreign Entity Indicator, position 187, must be set to “X.”

15–54 Payer Name 40 Required. Enter the name of the payer whose TIN appears in positions 614. Left justify information and fill unused positions with blanks.

55–94 Second Payer 40 If additional space is needed this field may be used to continue name line Name information (e.g., c/o First National Bank); otherwise, enter blanks.

95–134 Payer Address 40 Required. Enter the payer’s address. Street address should include number, street, apartment or suite number (or P.O. Box if mail is not delivered to a street address).

135–174 Payer City 40 Required. Enter the payer’s city, town, or post office.

175–176 Payer State 2 Required. Enter the payer’s valid U.S. Postal Service state abbreviation. (Refer to Part A, Sec. 18.)

177–185 Payer ZIP 9 Required. Enter the payer’s ZIP Code. If using a five-digit ZIP Code, left Code justify information and fill unused positions with blanks.

186 Document 1 Required. Enter the document for which you are requesting an extension Indicator of time using the following code: (See Note )

1999–31 I.R.B. 219 August 2, 1999

Record Layout for Extension of Time

Field Position Field Title Length Description and Remarks

Code Document 1 W-2 2 1098, 1098-E, 1098-T, 1099-A, 1099-B, 1099-C, 1099DIV, 1099-G, 1099-INT,1099-LTC, 1099-MISC, 1099MSA, 1099-OID, 1099-PATR, 1099-R, 1099-S, or W-2G 3 5498 4 1042-S 5 REMIC Documents (1099-INT or 1099-OID) 6 5498- MSA

Note: Do not enter any other values in this field. Submit a separate record for each document. For example, if you are requesting an extension for Form 1099-INT and Form 5498 for the same payer, submit one record with “2” coded in this field and another record with “3” coded in this field. If you are requesting an extension for Form 1099-DIV and Form 1099- MISC for the same payer, submit one record with “2” coded in this field.

187 Foreign 1 Enter character “X” if the payer is a foreign entity. Entity Indicator

188–198 Blank 11 Enter blanks.

199–200 Blank 2 Enter blanks. Diskette filers may code the ASCII carriage return/line feed (CR/LF) characters.

Extension of Time Record Layout

Transmitter

Payer

TIN

Payer Name

Second

Payer Name

Payer Address

Payer

City

Payer

State

Control

Code

1–5 6–14 15–54 55–94 95–134 135–174 175–176

Payer

ZIP Code

Document

Indicator

Foreign

Entity Indicator

Blank Blank or CR/LF

77–185 186 187 188–198 199–200

Part E. Miscellaneous Information

Sec. 1. Addresses for Martinsburg Computing Center

To submit an application to file, correspondence, and magnetic media files, use the following: