SEC. 4. GENERAL RULES — Internal Revenue Bulletin 2001-17

FILING FORM W-3 (Standard Red Ink Format)

.01 Employers submitting Form(s) W-2 (Copy A) to the SSA on paper must also file a Form W-3.

.02 Form W-3 must be the same width (8.0 inches) as the Form(s) W-2. The Form W-3 is printed on standard size paper 8.5 by 11 inches.

.03 Form W-3 now contains “four corner black register marks,” and red dropout ink shading, and red dropout ink dollar signs for all money boxes.

.04 Form W-3 has a new checkbox “Third-party sick pay” within Box b (Kind of Payer). Also a new Box 13 “For thirdparty sick pay use only” has been added.

.05 Box 14 has been opened/unzipped to include “Income tax withheld by payer of third-party sick pay” which was formerly box 15. The new Box 15 becomes “State and Employer’s state ID number”. The new boxes 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 will now report state/local wage and income tax information.

.06 Also the “Contact person”, “Telephone number”, “E-mail address”, and “Fax number” information boxes at the bottom have been expanded.

.07 Separate instructions for the Form W-3 are provided in the Instructions for 2001 Forms W-2 and W-3. Form W-3 is a single sheet including only essential filing information . Be sure to make a copy of Form W-3 for your records.

.08 Form W-3 should be used only to transmit paper Forms W-2 (Copy A). Magnetic media or electronic filers do not file Form W-3. Employers submitting Form(s) W-2 data via magnetic media must transmit Form(s) W-2 data with Form 6559, Transmitter Report and Summary of Magnetic Media, and Form 6559-A, Continuation Sheet for Form 6559, if necessary . Employers submitting Form(s) W-2 data electronically using the MMREF-1 via OWRS, Electronic Data Transfer (EDT), or diskette need not submit a Form 6559. However, employers must have com

pleted a PIN registration process that replaces the signature on Form 6559. If employers submit wage reports/Form(s) W-2 data in the MMREF-1 file using OWRS, EDT, or diskette, a Form 6559 will not be required upon completion of the PIN registration process. If employers submit MMREF-1 file on magnetic tape cartridge, a Form 6559 is required. Please refer to the latest edition of MMREF-1 for further information.

PART B. REQUIREMENTS FOR FILING PAPER SUBSTITUTES WITH THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (SSA)

SEC. 1.A. REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBSTITUTE “PRIVATELY PRINTED” FORMS SUBMITTED TO THE SSA (FORM W-2 (COPY A), AND FORM W-3 STANDARD RED INK FORMAT)

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

.02 Paper used for substitute Forms W-2, Copy A, and Form W-3 (cut sheets and continuous pinfeed forms) that are to be filed with the 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 inch 500 cut sheets, pound, 18-20 Metric equivalent grams per. sq. meter . . . . . . . . . . . . .68-75 A tolerance of +5 pct. is allowed. 3 Stiffness: Average, each direction, not less than Gurley milligrams —

Cross direction . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Machine direction . . . . . . . . .80

seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 9 Finish (smoothness): Average, each side —

seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20-55 (For information only), the Sheffield equivalent unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170-d200 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.

.03 All printing of Copy A of Forms W-2 and Form W-3 must be in Red OCR drop-out Flint Ink, except as specified below.

The following must be printed in nonreflective black ink:

1. Identifying control number “22222” (Exhibit C) at the top of Form W-2. 2. Tax year at the bottom of the Form W-2 (see Exhibit C). 3. The four (4) corner register marks on Form W-2 (Exhibit A). 4. Identifying control number “33333” (Exhibit D) at the top of Form W-3. 5. Tax year at the bottom of Form W-3 (Exhibit D). 6. Form identification “W-3” at the bottom of Form W-3 (Exhibit D). 7. The four (4) corner register marks on Form W-3 (Exhibit B). 8. The Jurat and “Signature, Title, Date” line at middle of Form W-3 (Exhibit B ). 9. All instructions beginning with the “Send this entire page….” Line to the bottom of Form W-3 (Exhibit B).

April 23, 2001 1096 2001–17 I.R.B.

As in the past, Forms W-2 (Copy A) and Form W-3 may be generated by use of a laser printer following all the guidelines and specifications per Exhibit A. The printing of the data should be centered. All other printing on Forms W-2, Copy A, and W-3 must be in Red OCR drop-out Flint Ink J-6983 (formerly Sinclair and Valentine) or an exact match. This is the same ink that is used for Copy A of the Form 1099 series (see Pub. 1179), Rules and Specifications for Private Printing of Substitute Forms 1096, 1098, 1099, 5498, and W-2G. The use of this ink is required for 2001 Forms W-3 and W-2 (Copy A).

.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.

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).
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 8.5 inches wide (exclusive of any snap-stubs) by 11 inches deep. The official Form W-2 is 8.0 inches in width printed on single sheet 8.5 inches in width. The form identifying control number for the official forms (8.0 inches wide) is “22222” (5 digits) for Form W-2 and “33333” (5 digits) for Form W-3. The top margin for the 2001 Forms W-3 and W-2 Copy A is .375 inch (3/8 inch). The right margin must be .2-inch and the left margin .3-inch (plus or minus .0313 inch). The margins have changed from Tax Year
Margins must be free of all printing. No printing should appear any- where near the Form ID control num- ber (33333 or 22222). For Forms W-2, Copy A, the combination width of Box a, “Control number,” and the box containing the form identifying number (22222) must always be 2.54 inches. For Form W-3, the combined width of these boxes must always be 2.54 inches.

NOTE: All form identifying numbers must 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 on the IRS printed forms. For Form W-2, the depth of one individual form is 4.92 inches (see Exhibit A). The scannable image depth of the Form W-3 on a page must be 4.8 inches (see Exhibit B).

.07 The words “Do Not Cut, Fold, or Staple Forms on This Page” must be printed twice in Red OCR drop-out Flint Ink between the two Forms W-2 on Copy A only (see Exhibit A). Perfora- tions are required on all copies (except Copy A) to enable the separation of in- dividual forms. Continuous pinfeed Copy A forms must be separated at the page perforation into individual 11 inch deep pages before submission to the SSA. The pinfeed strips must also be removed. However, the two Forms W-2 documents contained on the 11 inch deep page must not be separated.

.08 Box 12 of Copy A, Form W-2, has been broken down into four entry boxes 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d. Do not make more than one entry per box. If more than four items need to be reported in box 12, use a separate Form W-2 to report the additional items (see “Multiple forms” in the 2001 Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3). Do not report the same Federal tax data to the SSA on more than one Copy A, Form W-2.

.09 The words “For Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see separate instructions,” must be printed in Red OCR drop-out Flint Ink on Forms W-2, Copy A (see Exhibit A for format and location). The 2001 Instruc- tions for Forms W-2 and W-3 contain the Privacy Act Notification previously shown on the Form W-3.

.10 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Number must be printed on each ply of Forms W-2 and on W-3 (see Exhibits A and B for format and location).

.11 The instructions on the official Form W-3, must be printed in their entirety on all substitute Forms W-3 (see Exhibit B).

Note: Household employers, even those with only one household em- ployee, must file a Form W-3 with Form W-2. On Form W-3 mark the “Hshld Emp.” box in Box b.

.12 Privately printed continuous sub- stitute Form W-2, Copy A, must be perfo-

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

.13 The back of substitute Form W-2, Copy A, and Form W-3 must be free of all printing.

.14 Spot carbons are NOT permitted for Copy A of Forms W-2. 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, only if the following standards are met:

Only chemically backed paper is acceptable for Copy A.
Chemically transferred images must be black in color.
Carbon-coated forms are not permitted. Front and back chemically treated paper cannot be processed properly by scanning equipment. In general, the use of black ink for data submitted on Forms W-2 and W-3 provides better readability for processing by the scanning equipment. Colors other than black are not easily read by the scanner and/or may result in delays/errors in the processing of Forms W-2 and W-3. “Spot carbons” are NOT permitted.

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

.17 The Catalog Numbers, shown on the 2001 Forms W-2 as “Cat. No. 10134D, ” and Form W-3 as “Cat. No. 10159Y, ” are used for IRS distribution purposes and should not be printed on substitute forms.

.18 Form W-3, box 13 is now labeled as “For third-party sick pay use only” for quick identification.

SEC. 1.B. REQUIREMENTS FOR 8- 1/2 INCH “LASER PRINTED BLACK AND WHITE FORMS” FOR SUBMISSION TO THE SSA (FORMS W-2 COPY AAND W-3).

2001–17 I.R.B. 1097 April 23, 2001

.01 Specifications for the laser printed black and white forms are the same as the red and white forms with the exception of the following items and the actual form dimensions as shown in the Exhibits G and H respectively.

Forms are printed on 8.5 by 11inches single/page sheet paper not continuous feed. There must not be any horizontal perforations between the two copies.
All forms and data print must be in non-reflective black ink.
The forms must not contain any corner register marks.
The forms must not contain any shaded areas including entirely shaded boxes.
It is preferred that the preprinted Form ID Numbers on both the Form W-2 (22222) and the Form W-3 (33333) be printed in 12-point (10 characters per inch) Courier font.
The form numbers “W-2” and “W-3” preceding the form title and the tax year at the bottom of the form font size must be 14-point Courier bold print (W-2 W-3 2001).
No part of the box titles or the data printed on the forms may touch any of the vertical or horizontal lines, nor should any of the data intermingle with the box titles.
The word “Code” must not appear in box 12 on the W-2.
A four (4) digit vendor code must appear under the tax year and above the catalogue number on the Form W-2 (see Exhibit G) and on the Form W-3 at the bottom of “For Official Use Only” box (see Exhibit H). The catalogue number below the tax year on Form W-2 is not required to be printed.
Do not print the check boxes on the Forms W-3 Kind of Payer (box b), W-2 Box 13, or the Void box. The Forms W-3, Kind of Payer, designation “X” should be placed directly below the applicable title and centered as best possible. Box 13 instructions should say place an “X” below the applicable title. The Form W-2 Void Box designation “X” must be positioned to the right of the title be

cause of the limited space underneath the title. 11. Do not print dollar signs in any of the money amounts. 12. See Exhibits G and H for specific dimensions and box size specifications. 13. Exhibits are for sample only and must not be downloaded to meet tax obligations. 14. You must submit samples of your laser printed forms to the SSA for approval. Send one set of blank laser printed Forms W-3 and W-2, and one set of dummy data laser printed Forms W-3 and W-2. Sample data entries should be filled in to the maximum length for each box entry using numeric data or alpha data depending upon the type of the data being entered. Include in your submission the name and telephone number of a contact person who can answer questions regarding your sample forms. The four-position vendor code must appear on the sample forms. You can expect approval or disapproval within 30 days of receipt of sample. 15. You may send your laser printed sample forms to:

Social Security Administration Data Operations Center ATTN: Program Analyst Office Room 449 1150 E. Mountain Drive Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702-7997. 16. Send your sample forms to the above address via private mail carrier or certified mail in order to be able to verify receipt of your sample forms. 17. Forms W-2 and W-3 are not required to display the form producer’s EIN to the left of the “Department of the Treasury” statement. The vendor code will be used to identify the forms producer . The data and forms must be produced simultaneously. Forms can not be produced separately from wage data entries. 18. Vendor code must be present on all laser printed (black/white) forms to identify the company

producing the forms. If you do not have a vendor code, you may contact the National Association of Computerized Tax Processors at 816-504-1188 or via EMail address at MNolan@hrblock.com. “Forms not containing a vendor code will be rejected”. Sample forms without a vendor code will not be submitted for testing or approval.