Guidelines for Reproduced and Substitute Tax Forms

The due dates for filing and making payments for certain 2020 income tax returns have changed. The documents on this web page may not reflect the new due dates. For information on the new filing and payment due dates, see the article 2020 Wisconsin Tax Return Due Dates and Payments.

Certain guidelines must be followed for reproduced or substitute Wisconsin tax forms (including schedules). The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that the reproduced or substitute forms are compatible with the department's processing system, and that they present information in a uniform manner.

Substitute Tax Form Approval Guidelines and Specifications

Scannable Forms Requiring Approval

Reminders:

• All demographic entries must contain a leading blank space.
• Use capital letters in all alphabet fields.
• No commas in amount fields.
• A dash must be used as an indicator of negative amounts in all fields.
• All date formats must be MMDDCCYY or MMDDYYYY
• Do not include dashes or slashes within SSN, FEIN, or hyphenated last name fields.
• WT-7 account type must be 036.
• Form 3 – please use whole numbers only, no decimal points.

OCR Scan Line and Voucher Specifications

Check Digit for WTN for Forms WT-6 and WT-7

OCR Forms: Although the Department will approve substitute estimated tax vouchers (Forms 1-ES, PW-ES and Corp-ES), it is preferred that taxpayers use the preprinted vouchers sent by the Department if they receive them. The Department-printed vouchers reduce the chance of error in posting payments to the taxpayer's account and cost less to process than substitute forms.

1. Form WT-6 Check Digit Specifications for WTN


2. OCR Scan Line Specifications for WT-6
   1. The OCR scan line must be printed in OCR "A" font at a pitch of 10 characters per inch.
   2. The software should default to omit the scan line altogether if the customer is unable to print in OCR "A" font.
   3. The OCR scan line must be printed on each form.
   4. The right edge of the last character in the OCR scan line must be ½ inch from the right-hand edge of the form.
   5. The bottom of the OCR print line must be ½ inch above the bottom edge of the form and must be parallel to the bottom edge of the form.
   6. The OCR scan line must center in a "clear band" ½ inch high centered on the OCR print line, which must be free of extraneous print, dirt, carbon residue, and all foreign matter.
   7. The line of characters to be read must be printed within the "printing band," which is located in the center of the clear band. The printing band is 0.22 inches high.
   8. The ink in the printed character must absorb light in the 550 to 950 nm wavelength range. The ink must not spatter or smear.
   9. The OCR print line should read:

      Form WT-6: 931 9999999999999999 999999

   10. For Form WT-6 the set of sixteen "9"s is replaced with the taxpayers Wisconsin Tax Number (WTN) plus the check digit for the WTN. The WTN is 15-digits and the check digit is the 1-digit. The second set of six "9"s is replaced with the filing frequency. See the attached link for these digits at 2018 Form WT-6 Specifications.
   
   
3. OCR Scan Line Specifications for Form 1-ES, Form Corp-ES, Form PW-ES, Form EPV, and Form C-EPV

   The following guidelines would be utilized by Preparer or Internet Generated Returns in the printing of the scan line on the documents

   1. Document Specifications
      1. Size: Form 1-ES, Form Corp-ES, Form PW-ES, Form EPV, and Form C-EPV must be 8 ½" x 3 2/3".
      2. Paperweight must be 20 pounds/500 sheets.
      3. Smoothness - between 65 and 200 Sheffield units on both sides. Unacceptable coatings include carbon coating and no-carbon required coatings. The coupon must be free of foreign matter such as staples, paper clips, adhesive tape or glue, etc. There can be no holes in the coupon.
      4. Bottom edge must be perpendicular to within 2 degrees to the right-hand and left-hand edges.
      5. No tears are allowed on the right-hand and bottom edges. Any perforations for a stub must be on the topside or left-hand edges of the document.
      6. The paper must be white, highly opaque and have a flat finish.
      7. It is essential that the remitter's name appear on the coupon. It is advisable to duplicate all scan line information fields elsewhere on the remittance coupon to facilitate any necessary data entry correction.
      
      
   2. OCR Scan Line Specifications
      1. The OCR scan line must be printed in OCR "A" font at a pitch of 10 characters per inch.
      2. The OCR scan line must be printed on each form.
      3. The right edge of the last character in the OCR scan line must be ½ inch from the right-hand edge of the form.
      4. The bottom of the OCR print line must be ½ inch above the bottom edge of the form and must be parallel to the bottom edge of the form.
      5. The OCR scan line must center in a "clear band" ½ inch high centered on the OCR print line, which must be free of extraneous print, dirt, carbon residue, and all foreign matter.
      6. The line of characters to be read must be printed within the "printing band," which is located in the center of the clear band. The printing band is 0.22 inches high.
      7. The ink in the printed character must absorb light in the 550 to 950 nm wavelength range. The ink must not spatter or smear.
      
      

      Corporation:

      2019 Corp-ES voucher and specifications
      2019 PW-ES voucher and specifications
      2018 C-EPV voucher and specifications

      Partnership:

      2019 3-ES voucher and specifications
      3-EPV voucher and specifications

      Individual:

      2019 1-ES voucher and specifications
      2018 EPV voucher and specifications

   3. Modulus 10 – Check Digit Calculation
      1. The check digit calculation utilizes position number 10 through 36 of the CRP scan line. Fields within these character positions include tax account identifying numbers, Period end dates, and payment types.
      2. Multiply the number in positions 36, 34, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, and 10 by 2. (This is every other position starting with the right most position)
      3. Add the digits in the products to the digits in the base number that were not multiplied.
      4. Subtract the sum from the next highest multiple of 10.
      5. The difference is the Check Digit.
      6. Example:

         Scan Line: 20801640112000000215783910000201806111990000001300

         Positions 10 – 36: 120000002157839100002018061

         Right most position and every other position:

         1, 0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 9, 8, 5, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1

         Multiply by 2: 2, 0, 2, 4, 0, 0, 18, 16, 10, 4, 0, 0, 0, 2

         Digits not multiplied (from right to left): 6, 8, 0, 0, 0, 1, 3, 7, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2

         Add the digits:

         1st number {2+0+2+4+0+0+(1+8)+(1+6)+(1+0)+4+0+0+0+2} = 31

         2nd number {6+8+0+0+0+1+3+7+1+0+0+0+2} = 28

         Sum = 59

         Next highest multiple of 10 = 60

         Subtract 60 – 59 = 1

         Check digit = 1

4. 1-ES Extension Payments (5th Voucher)

   Taxpayers who receive an extension of time to file their tax return must pay tax due by the original due date (usually April 15th). Tax due should be paid on a 1-ES voucher. The voucher must contain the same OCR Scan line as required for the four quarterly payment vouchers. The voucher must be for the correct year the tax is for. For example, if a taxpayer receives an extension of time to file their 2017 tax return, they should pay their tax due by April 15, 2019 using a 2018 Form 1-ES.

5. Required Testing

   Documents with an OCR scan line require testing at our depository bank. Twenty to thirty unique data-filled forms containing the approved OCR scan line must be submitted to the department for testing on our bank's OCR processing equipment. The forms submitted for testing must be actual printed copies or .pdf files (photocopies are not acceptable). Test forms should be submitted to the appropriate addresses as listed under "Approval of Substitute Forms." Actual data must be submitted.

March 31, 2021​