IRS e-fileTransmission Packaging

Strategy

Based on exploratory work by IBM and IRSPresented by Glenda Hayes/MITRE

International Tax Agencies ConferenceApril 29, 2002

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eFile Transport and Packaging Objectives

Define standard wire format and protocol for business return submission and acknowledgements Support any return type (e.g. 1120, 941) Rely on standards whenever possible

lower risk/development costs leverage existing tools reduce training costs

Support XML and binary data Usable over multiple communication channels

(e.g. dial-up, Internet, FTP, HTTP)

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eFile Return Packaging Objectives

Specify standard mechanism for structuring return components supports any return type consistent with eFile Transport and

Packaging simplifies XML schema definition and

instance creation facilitates development of standard

return processing applications provides flexibility to return storage and

access

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eFile Transport and Packaging Proposal

Defines the message enveloping and header document schema used to transfer IRS return submissions and acknowledgements over a communication protocol such as FTP, HTTP, etc. Defined as a set of layered extensions to the

base SOAP v1.1 and SOAP with Attachments standards.

Foundation for current W3C XML Protocol (SOAP 1.2) Does not override any SOAP semantics

Underlying transport based on MIME/multipart message standard.

Allows binary content

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eFile Transport and Packaging

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Acknowledgement Packaging

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eFile Return Packaging Proposal

Defines the structure of any return for use in transmission and storage

Each return and all its components is defined as one complete XML document

Return is defined as a set of “documents,” each with a standard type (e.g. form, schedule, statement, etc.)

Return provides a “manifest” for listing included documents along with identifying information

Individual documents may be prepared separately and then combined into return

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SOAP Overview

W3C (http://www.w3.org) message protocol standards SOAP 1.1

http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP/ SOAP Messages with Attachments

http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP-attachments W3C is working on SOAP 1.2, which is based

on these two standardshttp://www.w3.org/TR/soap12/

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SOAP Overview

A lightweight XML message transport protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment

Defines an envelope-and-attachments structure

Allows for easy extension with your own content models

Allows for binary content, e.g. Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, etc.

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SOAP Envelope & Attachments

SOAP Envelope optional Header content model mandatory Body content model

SOAP Attachments defined as MIME/Multipart message

often used in e-mail messages

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MIME Boundary &Content Header

MIME Boundary separates the SOAP envelope and each

SOAP attachment MIME Content Header

Content-Type: text/xml; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Location: XXXXX

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Message Packaging

Defines 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.

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Defined as a set of layered extensions to the SOAP 1.1 and SOAP Messages with Attachments standards Does not override any SOAP semantics.

The standard SOAP schema (http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/) is used “as-is”

Replaces proprietary TRAN A, TRAN B, RECAP, SUMMARY records

Message Packaging

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Message Packaging

An e-file transmission file contains one or many origins (a.k.a. batches)

Each origin contains one or many returns

Each return contains many return documents

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Return Packaging

Each return, including all of its components, is defined as one common XML structure

A return header schema is defined for elements common across return documents, e.g. taxpayer EIN, address, etc.

Separate XML schema defined for each form, schedule, supporting info, election, etc.

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Return Packaging

A return is defined as a set of “return documents” Each with a standard type Within each return, each return

document has an unique document ID

All return documents are contained in a “ReturnData” structure, which is a SOAP attachment

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Return Documents Form

e.g. Form 1120, Form 4797, ...

Schedule e.g. Schedule D, Itemized Other Income Schedule, ...

Supporting Info e.g. Tax Shelter Disclosure, miscellaneous

explanations, ...

Election e.g. Securities or Commodities Held by a Trader -

Mark-to-Market, ...

Payment

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Transmission File

Based on SOAP 1.1 with Attachments

SOAP envelope SOAP Header SOAP Body

SOAP attachment Return document(s)

MIME boundaries and content headers

Transmission File

SOAP Attachment

MIME Boundary & Content Header

MIME Content Header

MIME Boundary

MIME Boundary & Content Header

MIME Boundary & Content Header

MIME Boundary & Content Header

SOAP Attachment

SOAP Attachment

SOAP Attachment

SOAP Envelope

SOAP Header

SOAP Body

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Sample Transmission File

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Transmission Envelope

SOAP Header Transmission Header

Transmission header elements One or many return origin

headers

SOAP Body FileReturn (a process handler)

One or many 1120x return headers

SOAP Header

SOAP Body

SOAP Envelope

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Sample Transmission Envelope

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Origin & Return Manifests

Transmission Manifest references origins by the Origin ID

Origin Manifest references the return headers by an Item ID, which is unique within the transmission file

The return header references the return data by its Content-Location (MIME content header)

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Sample Transmission Envelope - Header & Body

Header Body

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Sample Return Data

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Sample Return Data

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Acknowledgement Packaging

SOAP envelope with SOAP Body but no SOAP

Transmission Acknowledgement

Origin Acknowledgement(s)• Item (Return)

Acknowledgement(s)

Acknowledgement File

SOAP Envelope

SOAP Body

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SampleAcknowledgement File

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SampleAcknowledgement File

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Sample Item Error& Error Codes

100 - Missing return150 - Duplicate return200 - Missing return document250 - Duplicate return document280 - The maximum number of occurrences for this return document is exceeded300 - Missing field350 - Duplicate field400 - Incorrect data type420 - Data out of range440 - Incorrect data format460 - Invalid data value500 - Data cannot be validated against other data on the same return document550 - Data cannot be validated against other data on another return document

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References

IRS 1120/941 eFile Transport and Packaging Proposal http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/edi/XMLpkg01.pdf

Tax Information Group for ECommerce Requirements Standardization (TIGERS) http://xml.coverpages.org/tigers.html