Part 2 General Guidelines for Submissions and Approvals

Section 2.1 – General Specifications for Approval

2.1.1 Overview

2.1.2 Email Submissions

If you produce any tax forms following the guidelines on only those changes specifically outlined by the Substitute Forms Unit, you can generate your own substitute forms without further approval. If your changes are more extensive, you must get IRS approval before using substitute forms. More extensive changes can include the use of typefaces and sizes other than those found on the official form and the condensing of line item descriptions to save space.

Note. The 20-day turnaround policy may not apply to extensive changes.

The Substitute Forms Program accepts substitute forms submissions via email. The email address is Substituteforms@irs.gov . Please include the term “PDF Submissions” on the subject line.

Follow these guidelines.

Do not email each form individually.

submission should contain a maximum of 15 forms.

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2.1.3 Expediting the Process

2.1.4 Schedules

2.1.5 Examples of Schedules That Must Be Submitted with the Return

2.1.6 Examples of Schedules That Can Be Submitted Separately

2.1.7 Use and Distribution of Unapproved Forms

the pdf file along with the forms. See a sample check sheet in Exhibit D.

draft forms as early as possible.

If the guidelines are not followed, you may need to resubmit.

Emailing pdf submissions will not expedite review and approval. The pdf submissions will be assigned a control number and put in queue along with mailed-in paper submissions. In addition to submitting forms via email, you may send your submissions to:

Internal Revenue Service SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP Attn: Substitute Forms Program 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW Room 6526 Washington, DC 20224

Follow these basic guidelines for expediting the process.

publications produced by the Substitute Forms Unit for other specific forms.

Note. Be sure to make any changes to approved drafts before releasing final versions.

Schedules are considered to be an integral part of a complete tax return. A schedule may be included as part of a form or printed separately.

Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, is an example of this situation. Its Schedules A through U have pages numbered as part of the basic return. For Form 706 to be considered for approval, the entire form including Schedules A through U must be submitted.

However, Schedules 1, 2, and 3 of Form 1040A are examples of schedules that can be submitted separately. Although printed by the IRS as a supplement to Form 1040A, none of these schedules are required to be filed with Form 1040A. These schedules may be separated from Form 1040A and submitted as substitute forms.

The IRS is continuing a program to identify and contact tax return preparers, forms developers, and software publishers who use or distribute unapproved forms that do not conform to this revenue procedure. The use of unapproved forms hinders the processing of the returns.

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Section 2.2 – Highlights of Permitted Changes and Requirements

2.2.1 Methods of Reproducing Internal Revenue Service Forms

Section 2.3 – Vouchers

2.3.1 Overview

2.3.2 Scan Line Specifications

2.3.3 MFT Code

Official IRS tax forms are supplied by the IRS. These forms may be provided in the taxpayer’s tax package or over-the-counter. Forms can also be picked up at many IRS offices, post offices, or libraries, and are available on DVD and online at www.irs.gov .

There are methods of reproducing IRS printed tax forms suitable for use as substitutes without prior approval.

substitute form, including entries, must be legible.

pin-fed forms as long as you use an official IRS version as the master copy.

forms (including returns) have a taxpayer signature requirement as part of the form layout. The jurat/perjury statement/signature line areas must be retained and worded exactly as on the official form. The requirement for a signature, by itself, does not prohibit a tax form from being properly computer-generated.

All payment vouchers (Forms 940-V, 941-V, 943-V, 945-V, 1040-V, and 2290-V) must be reproduced in conjunction with their forms. Substitute vouchers must be the same size as the officially printed vouchers. Vouchers that are prepared for printing on a laser printer may include a scan line.

NNNNNNNNN AA XXXX NN N NNNNNN NNN

Item: A B C D E F G

A. Social Security Number/Employer Identification Number (SSN/EIN) has 9 numeric (N) spaces. B. Check Digits have 2 alpha (A) spaces.

C. Name Control has 4 alphanumeric (X) spaces.

D. Master File Tax (MFT) Code has 2 numeric (N) spaces (see below).

E. Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Type has 1 numeric (N) space (see below).

F. Tax Period has 6 numeric (N) spaces in year/month format (YYYYMM).

G. Transaction Code has 3 numeric (N) spaces.

Code Number for Forms:

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2.3.4 TIN Type

2.3.5 Voucher Size

2.3.6 Print and Paper Weight

2.3.7 Specifications for Software Developers

2.3.8 Specific Line Positions

Type Number for:

The voucher size must be exactly 8.0 ′ ′ x 3.25 ′ ′ (Forms 1040-ES and 1041-ES must be 7.625 ′ ′ x 3.0 ′ ′ ). The document scan line must be vertically positioned 0.25 inches from the bottom of the scan line to the bottom of the voucher. The last character on the right of the scan line must be placed 3.5 inches from the right leading edge of the document. The minimum required horizontal clear space between characters is .014 inches. The line to be scanned must have a clear band 0.25 inches in height from top to bottom of the scan line, and from border to border of the document. “Clear band” means no printing except for dropout ink.

Vouchers must be imaged in black ink using OCR A, OCR B, or Courier 10. These fonts may not be mixed in the scan line. The horizontal character pitch is 10 CPI. The preferred paper weight is 20 to 24 pound OCR bond.

Certain vouchers may be reproduced for use in the IRS lockbox system. These include the 1040-V, 1040-ES, the 940 family, and 2290 vouchers. Software developers must follow these specific guidelines to produce scannable vouchers strictly for lockbox purposes. Also see Exhibit C.

Therefore, no vertical cut line is required.

issues.

Note. All software developers must ensure that their software uses OCR A font so taxpayers will be able to print the vouchers in the correct font.

Follow these line specifications for entering taxpayer data in the lockbox vouchers.

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2.3.9 How to Get Approval

To receive approval, please send 25 voucher samples yearly, by December 10, for testing to the following address.

Internal Revenue Service Attn: Doris Bethea, C5-163 5000 Ellin Rd. Lanham, MD 20706

For further information, contact either Doris Bethea, Doris.E.Bethea@irs.gov , at 202–283–0218 or Brenda Martinez, Brenda.C.Martinez@irs.gov , at 202–283–5789.

Section 2.4 – Restrictions on Changes

2.4.1 What You Cannot Do to Forms Suitable for Substitute Tax Forms

You cannot, without prior IRS approval, change any IRS tax form or use your own (nonapproved) versions including graphics, unless specifically permitted by this revenue procedure. See Sections 2.5.7 to 2.5.11.

You cannot adjust any of the graphics on Forms 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ (except in those areas specified in Part 5 of this revenue procedure) without prior approval from the IRS Substitute Forms Unit.

You cannot use your own preprinted label on tax returns filed with the IRS unless you fully comply with the criteria specified in Section 3.6.3 on the use of pre-addressed IRS labels.

Note. The 20-day turnaround policy may not apply to extensive changes.

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Section 2.5 – Guidelines for Obtaining IRS Approval

2.5.1 Basic Requirements

2.5.2 Conditional Approval Based on Advanced Drafts

2.5.3 Submission Procedures

2.5.4 Approving Offices

2.5.5 IRS Review of Software Programs, etc.

Preparers who submit substitute privately designed, privately printed, computer generated, or computer prepared tax forms must develop these substitutes using the guidelines established in this part. These forms, unless there is an exception outlined by the revenue procedure, must be approved by the IRS before being filed.

The IRS cannot grant final approval of your substitute form until the official form has been published. However, the IRS posts advance draft forms on its website at:

http://www.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/draftTaxForms.html

We encourage submission of proposed substitutes of these advance draft forms and will grant conditional approval based solely on these early drafts. These advance drafts are subject to significant change before forms are finalized. If these advance drafts are used as the basis for your substitute forms, you will be responsible for subsequently updating your final forms to agree with the final official version. These revisions need not be resubmitted for further approval.

Note. Approval of forms based on advance drafts will not be granted after the final version of an official form is published.

Follow these general guidelines when submitting substitute forms for approval.

from one filing period to another, a change in law or a change in internal need (processing, audit, compliance, etc.) may change the allowable limits for the alteration of the official form.

Section 1.2 – IRS Contacts) is requested, a sample of the proposed substitute form should be forwarded for consideration via email or by letter to the Substitute Forms Unit at the address shown in Section 1.2.1.

than one type of return (for example, 1040, 1041, 1120, etc.) should be submitted only once for approval, regardless of the number of different tax returns with which they may be associated. Also, all pages of multi-page forms or returns should be submitted in the same package.

Because only the Substitute Forms Unit is authorized to approve substitute forms, unnecessary delays may occur if forms are sent to the wrong office. You may receive an interim letter about the delay. The Substitute Forms Unit may then coordinate the response with the originator responsible for revising that particular form. Such coordination may include allowing the originator to officially approve the form. No IRS office is authorized to allow deviations from this revenue procedure.

The IRS does not review or approve the logic of specific software programs, nor does the IRS confirm the calculations on the forms produced by these programs. The accuracy of the program remains the responsibility of the software package developer, distributor, or user.

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2.5.6 When To Send Proposed Substitutes

2.5.7 Accompanying Statement

2.5.8 Approval/Non- Approval Notice

2.5.9 Duration of Approval

2.5.10 Limited Continued Use of an Approved Change

The Substitute Forms Unit is primarily concerned with the pre-filing quality review of the final forms that are expected to be processed by IRS field offices. For this purpose, you should submit forms without including any taxpayer information such as names, addresses, monetary amounts, etc.

Proposed substitutes, which are required to be submitted per this revenue procedure, should be sent as much in advance of the filing period as possible. This is to allow adequate time for analysis and response.

When submitting sample substitutes, you should include an accompanying statement that lists each form number and its changes from the official form (position, arrangement, appearance, line numbers, additions, deletions, etc.). With each of the items you should include a detailed reason for the change.

When requesting approval, please include a check sheet. Check sheets expedite the approval process. The check sheet may look like the example in Exhibit D displayed in the back of this procedure or may be one of your own design. Please include your fax number on the check sheet.

The Substitute Forms Unit will fax the check sheet or an approval letter to the originator if a fax number has been provided, unless:

Notice of approval may impose qualifications before using the substitutes. Notices of unapproved forms may specify the changes required for approval and require re-submission of the form(s) in question. When appropriate, you will be contacted by telephone.

Most signature tax returns and many of their schedules and related forms have the tax (liability) year printed in the upper right corner. Approvals for these annual forms are usually good for one calendar year (January through December of the year of filing). Quarterly tax forms in the 940 series and Form 720 require approval for any quarter in which the form has been revised.

Because changes are usually made to an annual form every year, each new filing season generally requires a new submission of a substitute form. Very rarely is updating the preprinted year the only change made to an annual form.

Limited changes approved for one tax year may be allowed for the same form in the following tax year. Examples are the use of abbreviated words, revised form spacing, compressed text lines, and shortened captions, etc., which do not change the integrity of lines or text on the official forms.

If substantial changes are made to the form, new substitutes must be submitted for approval. If only minor editorial changes are made to the form, it is not subject to review. It is the responsibility of each vendor who has been granted permission to use substitute forms to monitor and revise forms to mirror any revisions to official forms made by the Service. If there are any questions, please contact the Substitute Forms Unit.

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2.5.11 When Approval Is Not Required

2.5.12 Continuous- Use Forms

2.5.13 Required Copies

2.5.14 Requestor’s Responsibility

2.5.15 Source Code

If you received approval for a specific change on a form last year, you may make the same change this year if the item is still present on the official form.

other respects: date, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval number, attachment sequence number, Paperwork Reduction Act Notice statement, arrangement, item caption, line number, line reference, data sequence, etc.

procedure. The procedure may have eliminated, added to, or otherwise changed the guideline(s) that affected the change approved in the prior year.

to a current tax year substitute form.

Exception. Forms with temporary, limited, or interim approvals (or with approvals that state a change is not allowed in any other tax year) are subject to review in subsequent years.

Forms without preprinted tax years are called “continuous-use” forms. Continuous-use forms are revised when a legislative change affects the form or a change will facilitate processing. These forms frequently have revision dates that are valid for longer than one year.

Generally, you must send us one copy of each form being submitted for approval. However, if you are producing forms for different computer systems (for example, IBM compatible vs. Macintosh) or different types of printers and these forms differ significantly in appearance, submit one copy for each type of system or printer.

Following receipt of an initial approval for a substitute forms package or a software output program to print substitute forms, it is the responsibility of the originator (designer or distributor) to provide client firms or individuals with forms that meet the IRS’s requirements for continuing acceptability. Examples of this responsibility include:

tion Act Notice, which is generally found in the instructions for the official IRS forms.

The Substitute Forms Unit will assign a unique source code to each firm that submits substitute paper forms for approval. This source code will be a permanent identifier that must be used on every submission by a particular firm.

The source code consists of three alpha characters and should generally be printed at the bottom left margin area on the first page of every approved substitute form.

Section 2.6 – Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Requirements for All Substitute Forms

2.6.1 OMB Requirements for All Substitute Forms

There are legal requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (The Act). Public Law 104-13 requires the following.

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2.6.2 Application of the Paperwork Reduction Act

2.6.3 Required Explanation to Users

2.6.4 Finding the OMB Number and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

be used, and whether or not the information is required to be furnished to the IRS.

This information must be provided to every user of official or substitute IRS forms or instructions.

On forms that have been assigned OMB numbers:

ceptable).

You must inform the users of your substitute forms of the IRS use and collection requirements stated in the instructions for official IRS forms.

retain either the Paperwork Reduction Act Notice (or Disclosure, Privacy Act, and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice), or a reference to it as the IRS does on the official forms (usually in the lower left corner of the forms).

Revenue laws of the United States....”

Note. If no IRS instructions are provided to users of your forms, the exact text of the Paperwork Reduction Act Notice (or Disclosure, Privacy Act, and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice) must be furnished separately or on the form.

The OMB number and the Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, or references to it, may be found printed on an official form (or its instructions). The number and the notice are included on the official paper format and in other formats produced by the IRS (for example, DVD (Publication 1796) or Internet download).