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Publication 1516›Part C›Record Format Specifications and Record Layouts

Sec. 5 Payee “B” Record

Publication 1516 — Specifications for Electronic Filing of Forms 8596, Information Returns for Federal Contracts · 2026-10-03 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · United States

The Payee “B” Record contains payment information from the individual contracts.

When filing information documents electronically, the format for the Payee “B” Records will remain constant. All records must be a fixed length of 750 positions.

All alpha characters entered in the “B” Record must be uppercase. Decimal points (.) cannot be used to indicate dollars and cents.

The IRS strongly encourages filers to review data for accuracy before submission to facilitate the collection of delinquent federal tax liabilities from contractors. Filers should be especially careful that names, TINs, and income amounts are correct.

Record Name: Payee “B” Record

Field Positions	Field Title	Length	General Field Descriptions
1	Record Type	1	Required. Enter “B.”
2-5	Payment Year	4	Required. Enter the 4-digit year in which the contract is signed.
6	Corrected Return Indicator (See Note.)	1	Required for corrections only. Indicates a corrected return. Note: C, G, and non-coded records must be reported using separate Issuer “A” Records. SeePart A, Sec. 8, Corrected Returns Procedures, for specific instructions on how to file corrected returns. Code Definition G If this is a one-transaction correction or the first of a two-transaction correction. C If this is the second transaction of a two-transaction correction. Blank If this is not a return being submitted to correct information already processed by the IRS.
7-10	Name Control	4	If determinable, enter the first four characters of the last name of the person whose TIN is being reported in positions 12-20 of the “B” Record; otherwise, enter blanks. Last names of less than four characters must be left-justified, filling the unused positions with blanks. SeePart D, Exhibit 1, Name Control for more information.

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Record Name: Payee “B” Record

Field Positions	Field Title	Length	General Field Descriptions
11	Type of TIN	1	This field is used to identify the taxpayer identification number (TIN) in positions 12-20 as either an employer identification number (EIN), a social security number (SSN), individual taxpayer dentification number (ITIN) or an adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN). Enter the appropriate code from the following table: TIN Definition Code EIN A business, organization, sole proprietor, or other entity. 1 SSN An individual, including a sole proprietor. 2 ITIN An individual required to have a taxpayer identification number, but who is not eligible to obtain an SSN. 2 ATIN An adopted individual prior to the assignment of an SSN. 2 N/A If the type of TIN is not determinable, enter a blank. Blank
12-20	Contractor’s Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)	9	Required. Enter the nine-digit taxpayer identification number of the contractor (SSN, ITIN, ATIN, or EIN). If an identification number has been applied for but not received, enter blanks. All zeros, ones, twos, etc., will have the effect of an incorrect TIN. If the TIN is not available, enter blanks.
21-29	Common Parent’s Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)	9	Required. If applicable, enter the valid nine-digit number assigned to the contractor’s common parent; otherwise, enter blanks. All zeros, ones, twos, etc., will have the effect of an incorrect TIN.
30-54	Blank	25	Enter blanks.
55-138	Zero	84	Required. Enter zeros.
139-150	Total Amount Obligated Under Contract	12	Required. The amount reported in this field represents Total Amount Obligated Under the Contract. The Under Contract amount must be entered in U.S. dollars and cents. Dollar signs, commas, decimal points, or negative payments are not acceptable. Right justify the information and fill unused positions with zeros.
151-286	Zero	136	Required. Enter zeros.
287	Foreign Country Indicator	1	If the address of the payee is in a foreign country, enter a “1” in this field; otherwise, enter a blank. When filers use this indicator, they may use a free format for the payee city, state, and ZIP Code. Address information must not appear in the First or Second Payee Name Lines.

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Record Name: Payee “B” Record

Field Positions	Field Title	Length	General Field Descriptions
288-327	First Payee Name Line	40	Required. Enter the name of the contractor (preferably surname first) whose taxpayer identification number (TIN) was provided in positions 12-20 of the “B” Record. Left justify the information and fill unused positions with blanks. If more space is required for the name, utilize the Second Payee Name Line Field. For multiple payees, only the name of the payee whose TIN has been provided should be entered in this field. The names of the other payees may be entered in the Second Payee Name Line Field. • For a sole proprietor, the individual’s name must always be present on the First Payee Name Line. • The use of the business name is optional in the Second Payee Name Line Field.
328-367	Second Payee Name Line	40	For multiple payees, partners, or joint owners, use this field for those names not associated with the TIN provided in positions 12-20 of the “B” Record or if not, enough space was provided in the First Payee Name Line, continue the name in this field. Don’t enter address information. It is important that filers provide as much payee information to the IRS as possible to identify the payee associated with the TIN. Left justify the information and fill unused positions with blanks.

Note : End the First Payee Name Line with a full word. Don’t split words. Begin the Second Payee Name Line with the next sequential word.

Note : If applicable, enter the business name of the sole proprietor in the Second Payee Name Line field.

For U.S. addresses, the payee city, state, and ZIP Code must be reported as 40, 2, and 9 position fields, respectively. Filers must adhere to the correct format for the payee city, state, and ZIP Code. For foreign addresses, filers may use the payee city, state, and ZIP Code as a continuous 51 position field. Enter information in the following order: city, province or state, postal code, and the name of the

country. Wh “1.”	hen reporting a foreign	address, t	the Foreign Country Indicator in position 287 must contain a
408-447	Blank	40	Enter blanks.
448-487	Payee City	40	Required. Enter city, town, or post office. Enter APO or FPO if applicable. Don’t enter state and ZIP Code information in this field. Left justify the information and fill the unused positions with blanks.

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Record Name: Payee “B” Record

Field Positions	Field Title	Length	General Field Descriptions
488-489	Payee State	2	Required. Enter the valid U.S. Postal Service state abbreviations for states or the appropriate postal identifier (AA, AE, or AP).SeePart A, Sec. 10, State Abbreviations and APO/FPO Addresses.
490-498	Payee ZIP Code	9	Required. Enter the valid nine-digit ZIP Code assigned by the U.S. Postal Service. If only the first five digits are known, left justify the information and fill the unused positions with blanks. For foreign countries, alpha characters are acceptable if the filer has entered a “1” in the Foreign Country Indicator, located in position 287 of the “B” Record.
499	Blank	1	Enter a blank.
500-507	Record Sequence Number	8	Required. Enter the number of the record as it appears within your file. The record sequence number for the “T” Record will always be “1” since it is the first record on your file, and you can have only one “T” Record in a file. Each record, thereafter, must be incremental by one in ascending numerical sequence, that is, 2, 3, 4, etc. Right justify numbers with leading zeros in the field. The “T” Record sequence number would appear as “00000001”, in the field, the first “A” Record would be “00000002”, the first “B” Record, “00000003”, the second “B” Record, “00000004”. Continue sequencing until you reach the final record of the file, the “F” Record.
508-544	Blank	37	Enter blanks.
545	Filing Quarter	1	Required. Enter the filing quarter; that is, 1, 2, 3 or 4. See the chart below to determine the appropriate quarter. Quarter Months 1 January, February, March 2 April, May, June 3 July, August, September 4 October, November, December
546-553	Blank	8	Enter blanks.
554-568	Contract Number	15	Required, if available. Enter the contract number assigned by the federal executive agency. Left justify the information and fill the unused positions with blanks.

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Record Name: Payee “B” Record

Field Positions	Field Title	Length	General Field Descriptions
569	Blank	1	Enter a blank.
570-573	Contract Modification Number	4	Required, if available. Enter the number assigned to the contract or order to designate a modification or termination. If this field is not used, enter blanks.
574	Blank	1	Enter a blank.
575-589	Contract Office Order Number	15	Required, if available. Enter the number assigned by the contracting office. Left justify the information and fill the unused positions with blanks.
590	Blank	1	Enter a blank.
591-594	Reporting Agency Code	4	Required. Enter the four-digit agency and sub-agency code.
595	Blank	1	Enter a blank.
596-600	Contract Office Number	5	Required, if available. Enter the number assigned by the federal executive agency that identifies the purchasing or contracting office.
601	Blank	1	Enter a blank.
602-609	Date of Contract Action	8	Required. Enter the date of the action. Use YYYYMMDD (for example, 20190214).
610	Blank	1	Enter a blank.
611-618	Contract Completion Date	8	Required. Enter the expected date of completion of the contract such as the contract delivery date under the contract schedule. Use YYYYMMDD. If the completion date is not available, enter blanks.
619-658	Name of Common Parent	40	Required, if applicable. If the contractor is a member of an affiliated group of corporations that files its income tax returns on a consolidated basis, enter the name of the common parent of the affiliated group. The name should match the EIN in positions 21-29. If this field is not used, enter blanks.
659-748	Blank	90	Enter blanks.
749-750	Blank	2	Enter blanks or carriage return line feed (CR/LF) characters.

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Payee “B” Record Layout

Record Type	Payment Year	Corrected Return Indicator	Name Control	Type of TIN	Contractor’s Taxpayer Identification Number
1	2-5	6	7-10	11	12-20
Common Parent’s TIN	Blank	Zero	Total Amount Obligated Under Contract	Zero	Foreign Country Indicator
21-29	30-54	55-138	139-150	151-286	287
First Payee Name Line	Second Payee Name Line	Payee Mailing Address	Blank	Payee City	Payee State
288-327	328-367	368-407	408-447	448-487	488-489
Payee ZIP Code	Blank	Record Sequence Number	Blank	Filing Quarter	Blank
490-498	499	500-507	508-544	545	546-553
Contract Number	Blank	Contract Modification Number	Blank	Contract Office Order Number	Blank
554-568	569	570-573	574	575-589	590
Reporting Agency Code	Blank	Contract Office Number	Blank	Date of Contract Action	Blank
591-594	595	596-600	601	602-609	610
Contract Completion Date	Name of Common Parent	Blank	Blank or CR/LF
611-618	619-658	659-748	749-750	749-750	749-750

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▸Contents — Publication 1516 — Specifications for Electronic Filing of Forms 8596, Information Returns for Federal Contracts

Publication 1516 — Specifications for Electronic Filing of Forms 8596, Information Returns for Federal Contracts

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