6

Acknowledgement Files

Section 6 Acknowledgement Files

Once the transmission is received, the Form Data File is read and written to persistent storage, and checks are made on the Transmission Manifest Data, the Receipt ID, Timestamp, and Unique Transmission ID are returned to the Transmitter as part of the synchronous session. The AIR System responds with a receipt for the transmission or an error explaining what was wrong, if anything, with the transmission. The XML Form Data File is then queued for processing within AIR.

When AIR receives a status request, an Acknowledgement file is generated indicating the status of the transmission (Processing, Partially Accepted, Accepted, Accepted with Errors, Rejected, and Not Found) and is available for the Transmitter to retrieve. Transmitters should wait at least 10 minutes after the “Receipt ID” is provided to request the Acknowledgement for a transmission. The Acknowledgement includes an uncompressed native XML Error Data File that contains errors found during validation. If there are no errors found during validation, the Error Data File is not included in the Acknowledgement and the transmission processing status will be "Accepted".

The XML Error Data File attached to the Acknowledgement is constrained to 200 MB. If the number of validation errors identified result in the XML File exceeding the 200 MB constraint, the file will be truncated, and a message will be inserted at the end of the file indicating that the file was truncated.

Note: During peak processing periods, the Acknowledgement may not be ready for several hours, and can take up to 7 days after the “Receipt ID” is provided.

The Transmission Acknowledgement will include:

• Transmitter Control Code

• Unique Transmission ID

• Form Type Code

• Timestamp

• Submission Status Code: Accepted, Rejected, Processing, Partially Accepted, Accepted with Errors,

Not Found

• Error Message Detail

  • Error Message Code (Error Code or Business Rule number)

  • Error Message Text (Error Code or Business Rule Description)

  • XPathContent (link to schema error AIRSHXXX location within the transmitted Form Data File.)

Note: The XPath identifies the specific data element and instance in an enumerated group, if applicable, causing the violation.

• Document System File Name

• Checksum Augmentation Number (SHA-256) – if a file is attached to the Acknowledgement

• Attachment Byte Size Number

Refer to the items in the Acknowledgement Schema (in the IRS-Form1094-1095BCTransmitterRespMessage. xsd file), for all the items that can be included in the Acknowledgement.

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Acknowledgement Files

6.1 | Acknowledgement Schema

AIR returns an Error Data File with the Acknowledgement when errors are found in the transmission. The same data file is shared by all ACA Information Returns (Forms 1094/1095-B and 1094/1095-C). The table below explains some of the elements in the Acknowledgement:

Table 6-1: AIR Forms Acknowledgement Schema Elements

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Acknowledgement Files

6.2 | Retrieving Acknowledgements

Transmitters must have an active IRS account and been approved to transmit ACA Information Returns. See Section 2 above for information about obtaining an account and applying for an ACA Information. Return TCC. The AIR System will allow the Transmitter to either transmit submissions to IRS and/or retrieve Acknowledgements for those transmissions from IRS. Retrieving Acknowledgements for status checksTransmitters must submit a request to retrieve the processing status and error detail of their transmission which is known as the Acknowledgement.

When you retrieve Acknowledgements:

• Verify you’re in the correct environment: AATS or Production.

• Wait at least 10 minutes after the Receipt ID is provided to request the Acknowledgement for a

transmission.

For Acknowledgements via the UI channel:

• Check the environment you’re connecting to.

• Only check a Receipt ID starting “AATS109XXXXXXXXX” against the AATS application.

• Only check a Receipt ID starting “109XXXXXXX” against the AIR Production application.

For Acknowledgements via the A2A channel:

• When retrieving acknowledgements use the correct endpoint.

• Only check a Receipt ID starting “AATS109XXXXXXXXX” against the AATS service endpoint.

• Only check a Receipt ID starting “109XXXXXXX” against the AIR Production service endpoint.

The transmission and contains details such as any business rules validation errors, and TIN validation failures that were found when the XML transmission file (Form Data File) is processed. The status of the transmission includes one of the following:

• Accepted – (IRS has successfully processed and accepted the transmission: No XML Error Data File or

MTOM encoded attachment is included)

• Rejected – (IRS rejected the transmission as it could not be processed successfully: An XML Error Data

File or MTOM encoded attachment may or may not be included)

• Processing – (IRS has not completed processing the transmission: No XML Error Data File or

MTOMencoded attachment is included)

• Partially Accepted – (IRS has successfully processed the transmission (accepted and rejected one or

more submissions contained in the transmission): An XML Error Data file or MTOM encoded attachment may or may not be included)

• No fatal errors were identified while processing the transmission metadata

• At least one submission within the transmission was accepted (with or without errors)

• At least one submission within the transmission was rejected as unusable data

• Accepted with Errors – (IRS has successfully processed and accepted the transmission with some

errors: An XML Error Data file or MTOM encoded attachment is included containing the details)

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Acknowledgement Files

• Not Found – (The Receipt ID or the UTID in the request was not found: No XML Error Data File or MTOM

encoded attachment is included)

The details of errors found when IRS processed the XML Form Data File are made available to the Transmitter via display on their web browser (UI channel) or are included in an XML Form Data File attached to the SOAP Response in an MTOM encoded attachment (A2A channel). If the error detail exceeds the 200 MB limit, the error reporting will be truncated and a message indicating that the error detail was truncated will be included in the file..

6.2.1 | Error Data File

The sample Error Data File provided in Figure 6-1 below is an example of what the transmitters will receive in the Acknowledgement File when there are errors found in the transmissions. Each field will specify detailed information of the submissions and its errors.

In the example provided:

Submission Status Cd specifies the status of one Form 1094 and its Forms 1095

Accepted with Errors

To understand all the errors regarding Form 1094, follow the TransmitterErrorDetailGrp which has

1095C-15-00000004|1 ( ReceiptId | SubmissionId )

To understand all the errors regarding Form 1095 for that Form 1094, follow the TransmitterErrorDetailGrp which has: 1095C-15-00000004|1|1 ( ReceiptId | SubmissionId | RecordId )

1095C-15-00000004|1 ( ReceiptId | SubmissionId )

The TransmitterErrorDetailGrp, which is a repeating group, will be present if more than one error is present. The TransmitterErrorDetailGrp contains the ErrorMessageCd, the Error MessageText, and the XpathContent. The XPath identifies the specific data element and instance in an enumerated group, if applicable, causing the violation.

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Acknowledgement Files

Figure 6-1: Sample of an Error Data File

• The Error Data File will contain details regarding which business rules were violated.

• The Error Data File will also contain the XPath for each error. The XPath can be used to pinpoint the data

element that caused the violation and will be helpful in resolving and correcting errors.

• When the same business rule is violated too many times, the entire submission will be rejected, and a

generic threshold error will be returned in the Error Data File.

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Acknowledgement Files

Figure 6-2: Sample of an Error Data File with TIN Validation

6.2.2 | Retrieving Acknowledgements via the UI Channel

The Transmitter will log in to the appropriate UI Channel link (AATS or Production) available on the Affordable Care Act Information Returns (AIR) page on IRS.gov to submit a request to retrieve the processing status and error detail of their transmission, which is known as the Acknowledgement. To retrieve the Acknowledgement, the Transmitter must select the option to retrieve Acknowledgement and provide their Transmitter Control Code (TCC) and the Receipt ID or the UTID from the transmission for which they are requesting the processing status. Once the required information is interactively entered, the user submits the request.

Note: When retrieving acknowledgements via the UI Channel, no XML files are required to be uploaded.

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Acknowledgement Files

IRS retrieves the transmission status and provides the capability to view the error detail, if processing errors were identified as part of the synchronous session. From the UI Channel, the Error Data File may also be downloaded by the Transmitter for detailed analysis of the corrections required.

For details on how to construct and receive status and acknowledgements, see Publication 5258, AIR Submission Composition and Reference Guide, on the Affordable Care Act Information Returns (AIR ) page.

6.2.3 | Retrieving Acknowledgements via the A2A Channel

The Transmitter will be required to include their digital certificate and a digitally signed hash of the message in the WS-Security Header of the SOAP Message and invoke the appropriate URL for the Web Service endpoint that exposes the IRS-ACAAckngService service within the ACAGetTransmitterBulkRequestStatus.wsdl. The Receipt ID or the UTID is required for a Transmitter to retrieve the Acknowledgement for the respective transmission.

Required information pertaining to the Transmitter and the transmission are included as part of the SOAP message (in the SOAP Header) that is transmitted to IRS in a SOAP Request message.

IRS validates the SOAP message and performs security scanning and XML Schema validation on the inbound request since this is for the acknowlegement). If threats are detected or XML Schema validation fails, IRS will reject the request and inform the Transmitter of the rejection. If no security threats are detected, IRS retrieves the acknowledgement including the status and the Error Data File (if processing errors were identified by IRS), and returns them in the SOAP Response message as part of the synchronous session. The Error Data File (if included) is an uncompressed native XML formatted file that will not exceed 200 MB attached to the message as an MTOM encoded attachment.

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