1. Electronic Submission of W-2s & 1099s
Nicole Watson

2. What’s New? Businesses < 50 W-2s & 1099s
Delayed implementation for tax year 2017
Give small businesses more time to comply.
2017 filing requirements the same as 2016.

3. Requirements for Tax Year 2017

4. What’s New? Can IDR make filing easier? Working with software vendors
register and test software prior to the 1/31/2018 filing deadline.  
Guiding businesses required to file
Provide list of vendors who have completed testing
They offer software services for Iowa file formats.
17 vendors so far  
Manual entry of W-2/1099 information is not available for tax year 2017.

5. Tax Year 2017 Filing Requirements
Who
What
Is it Required?
Filing Due Date
Business with a withholding permit
Must file Verified Summary of Payments (VSP)
Yes
1/31/2018
Business with 50 or more W-2s with Iowa withholding
Must file W-2s
Business with fewer than 50 W-2s with Iowa withholding
May file W-2s No
Business with a withholding permit or filing though a bulk filer
May file 1099s or W-2Gs

6. How should I prepare my file?
Do it yourself
Do you have an ASCII programmer on staff?
If not, use a service provider.
Service Providers
17 vendors are currently registered
Vendors listed on the IDR website.
Filing extensions:

7. Iowa Does Not Accept
Other types of files (for example, PDFs scanned or created with any other software product).
Paper W-2 wage statements and 1099 information returns.
CD-ROMs; Cartridges; Flash drives; Floppy disks; Magnetic media; PDF files created at SSA website.

8. Does Iowa Participate in Combined Reporting?
The SSA offers no Combined Reporting program for reporting W-2 wage statements to both the SSA and state revenue agencies.
The IRS offers Combined Federal/State Filing program (CF/SF) for reporting certain information returns to both the IRS and state revenue agencies. IDR does not participate in IRS program.

9. What is the plan for 1099s?
1099 filing is currently optional and available to
Any business registered with an Iowa withholding permit
Any business using a bulk filer to submit a 1099 file on their behalf
The Department will not issue permits and Business eFile Numbers (BENs) for purposes of electronically filing 1099s or W-2s with no withholding.

10. 1099s forms accepted
Form 1099-B, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions
Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt
Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions
Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments
Form 1099-INT, Interest Income
Form 1099-K, Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions
Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income
Form 1099-OID, Original Issue Discount
Form 1099-R, Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.

11. Submitting Wage Statements and Information Returns

12. Upload a File
Visit the Department’s eFile & Pay web application at
You need your business’ Business E File Number (BEN) to login.

13. Upload a File
If you are a Service Provider enter your BEN, not the BEN of your client.
Verify that the BEN and Employer Legal Name match the information for the W-2 Wage Statement file you are about to upload.

14. Upload a File
Enter the User ID and password.

15. Upload a File
Select file type. Service providers select File for Client if uploading on behalf of a client.

16. Upload a File
Click Upload New File to upload a W-2 file.

17. Upload a File
Click the Choose File button to select the file to upload.

18. Upload a File
Select the appropriate W-2 file for Iowa. In this example we are using IAW txt

19. Upload a File
After you have selected your file, click the Upload button.

20. Upload a File
After uploading the file click the Refresh button to update the information on the page. Page contents will not update automatically.

21. How Will I Know the Department Received my File?

22. Do I need authorization to upload my file to Iowa?
Transmitters registered as Bulk Filers with the IDR must use their own eFile & Pay credentials to upload withholding returns, wage and tax statements, and information returns on behalf of their software subscribers.
Payroll Service Providers registered as Bulk Filers with the Iowa Department of Revenue must use their own eFile & Pay credentials to upload withholding returns, wage and tax statements, and information returns on behalf of their clients.

23. Do I need authorization to upload my file to Iowa?
Companies registered to file Iowa withholding returns
Use your existing eFile & Pay credentials
Upload wage and tax statements and information returns
Or use your software company to provide transmitter service.

24. Is a test file required? Software vendors: Testing is required.
Software vendors (and commercial payroll service providers who develop their own software) are issued login credentials for use on an eFile & Pay test site hosted in a User Acceptance Test (UAT) environment after they register their product(s) with the Iowa Department of Revenue.
Software customers: Testing is discretionary. Sample files may be uploaded through Iowa’s production eFile & Pay set to DEMO mode

25. How Will I Know the Department Received my File?
W-2 or 1099 Results File
For each W-2 or 1099 file Iowa receives, Iowa posts a corresponding results file, distinguished by the same filename as original W-2 file, but appended with “results”. e.g. IAW results.txt
Warning: If the results file doesn’t appear, remember to click the “REFRESH” button.
Large files take longer to process, delaying the results file.
Extremely large files including errors may cause the system to time out.
Try uploading a smaller file in an effort to identify a common error.
Fix that error everywhere it occurs
Upload again.

26. How Will I Know the Department Received my File?
Compressing files is optional
IDR recommends compressing files
Reduces transmission time
Only compress one data file into a single zip archive file.
Before zipping your file, name the original (unzipped file) according to the filename pattern described in
Archive filenames should match the original.
For example: IAW txt.zip; IAIR txt.zip

27. Resources

28. Resources
Visit the IDR website at

29. Resources
Visit the IDR website at

30. Resources A business can:
Visit the IDR website at
A business can:
Apply for Extension of Time to File Iowa W-2 Wage Statements
Sign up for updates on Electronic Filing of W-2 and 1099s
View step by step instructions regarding W-2 Wage Statement File Upload Instructions

31. Resources A software vendor can:
Visit the IDR website at
A software vendor can:
Access technical file specifications in the Electronic Reporting of Wage Statements and Information Returns
Register with the Department with the 2017 IA W e-File Vendor Registration Form
Apply to become a Bulk Filer of withholding returns or uploading of W-2/1099 files
View W-2 Reporting Errors

32. Information Online

33. Information Online

35. Receive Automatic Updates

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@IDRIncomeTax
@IDRTaxPros

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38. Purpose of this Presentation
This presentation is intended for general educational purposes only.
Anyone involved in an audit or protest must contact the Department representative they are working with on that issue.

39. THANK YOU!!