1. IRS e-file Transmission Packaging Strategy Based on exploratory work by IBM and IRS Presented by Glenda Hayes/MITRE International Tax Agencies Conference April 29, 2002

2. 2 eFile Transport and Packaging Objectives åDefine standard wire format and protocol for business return submission and acknowledgements u Support any return type (e.g. 1120, 941) u Rely on standards whenever possible l lower risk/development costs l leverage existing tools l reduce training costs u Support XML and binary data u Usable over multiple communication channels (e.g. dial-up, Internet, FTP, HTTP)

3. 3 eFile Return Packaging Objectives åSpecify standard mechanism for structuring return components u supports any return type u consistent with eFile Transport and Packaging u simplifies XML schema definition and instance creation u facilitates development of standard return processing applications u provides flexibility to return storage and access

4. 4 eFile Transport and Packaging Proposal åDefines the message enveloping and header document schema used to transfer IRS return submissions and acknowledgements over a communication protocol such as FTP, HTTP, etc. u Defined as a set of layered extensions to the base SOAP v1.1 and SOAP with Attachments standards. l Foundation for current W3C XML Protocol (SOAP 1.2) l Does not override any SOAP semantics u Underlying transport based on MIME/multipart message standard. l Allows binary content

5. 5 eFile Transport and Packaging

6. 6 Acknowledgement Packaging

7. 7 eFile Return Packaging Proposal åDefines the structure of any return u for use in transmission and storage åEach return and all its components is defined as one complete XML document åReturn is defined as a set of “documents,” each with a standard type (e.g. form, schedule, statement, etc.) åReturn provides a “manifest” for listing included documents along with identifying information åIndividual documents may be prepared separately and then combined into return

8. 8 SOAP Overview åW3C (http://www.w3.org) message protocol standards u SOAP 1.1 http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP/ u SOAP Messages with Attachments http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP-attachments u W3C is working on SOAP 1.2, which is based on these two standards http://www.w3.org/TR/soap12/

9. 9 SOAP Overview åA lightweight XML message transport protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment åDefines an envelope-and-attachments structure åAllows for easy extension with your own content models åAllows for binary content, e.g. Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, etc.

10. 10 SOAP Envelope & Attachments åSOAP Envelope u optional Header content model u mandatory Body content model åSOAP Attachments u defined as MIME/Multipart message often used in e-mail messages

11. 11 MIME Boundary & Content Header åMIME Boundary u separates the SOAP envelope and each SOAP attachment åMIME Content Header u Content-Type: text/xml; charset=UTF-8 u Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit u Content-Location: XXXXX

12. 12 Message Packaging åDefines the message envelope and header document schemas used to transfer IRS return submissions and acknowledgements over a dedicated line, dial-up, or other common communication protocols such as HTTP.

13. 13 åDefined as a set of layered extensions to the SOAP 1.1 and SOAP Messages with Attachments standards u Does not override any SOAP semantics. The standard SOAP schema (http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/) is used “as-is” åReplaces proprietary TRAN A, TRAN B, RECAP, SUMMARY records Message Packaging

14. 14 Message Packaging åAn e-file transmission file contains one or many origins (a.k.a. batches) åEach origin contains one or many returns åEach return contains many return documents

15. 15 Return Packaging åEach return, including all of its components, is defined as one common XML structure åA return header schema is defined for elements common across return documents, e.g. taxpayer EIN, address, etc. åSeparate XML schema defined for each form, schedule, supporting info, election, etc.

16. 16 Return Packaging åA return is defined as a set of “return documents” u Each with a standard type u Within each return, each return document has an unique document ID åAll return documents are contained in a “ReturnData” structure, which is a SOAP attachment

17. 17 Return Documents u Form l e.g. Form 1120, Form 4797,... u Schedule l e.g. Schedule D, Itemized Other Income Schedule,... u Supporting Info l e.g. Tax Shelter Disclosure, miscellaneous explanations,... u Election l e.g. Securities or Commodities Held by a Trader - Mark-to-Market,... u Payment

18. 18 Transmission File åBased on SOAP 1.1 with Attachments åSOAP envelope u SOAP Header u SOAP Body åSOAP attachment u Return document(s) åMIME boundaries and content headers Transmission File SOAP Attachment MIME Boundary & Content Header MIME Content Header MIME Boundary MIME Boundary & Content Header SOAP Attachment SOAP Envelope SOAP Header SOAP Body

19. 19 Sample Transmission File

20. 20 Transmission Envelope åSOAP Header u Transmission Header l Transmission header elements l One or many return origin headers åSOAP Body u FileReturn (a process handler) l One or many 1120x return headers SOAP Header SOAP Body SOAP Envelope

21. 21 Sample Transmission Envelope

22. 22 Origin & Return Manifests åTransmission Manifest references origins by the Origin ID åOrigin Manifest references the return headers by an Item ID, which is unique within the transmission file åThe return header references the return data by its Content-Location (MIME content header)

23. 23 Sample Transmission Envelope - Header & Body HeaderBody

24. 24 Sample Return Data

25. 25 Sample Return Data

26. 26 Acknowledgement Packaging åSOAP envelope with SOAP Body but no SOAP åTransmission Acknowledgement l Origin Acknowledgement(s) Item (Return) Acknowledgement(s) Acknowledgement File SOAP Envelope SOAP Body

27. 27 Sample Acknowledgement File

28. 28 Sample Acknowledgement File

29. 29 Sample Item Error & Error Codes 100 - Missing return 150 - Duplicate return 200 - Missing return document 250 - Duplicate return document 280 - The maximum number of occurrences for this return document is exceeded 300 - Missing field 350 - Duplicate field 400 - Incorrect data type 420 - Data out of range 440 - Incorrect data format 460 - Invalid data value 500 - Data cannot be validated against other data on the same return document 550 - Data cannot be validated against other data on another return document

30. 30 References åIRS 1120/941 eFile Transport and Packaging Proposal u http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/edi/XMLpkg01.pdf http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/edi/XMLpkg01.pdf åTax Information Group for ECommerce Requirements Standardization (TIGERS) u http://xml.coverpages.org/tigers.html http://xml.coverpages.org/tigers.html