Wisconsin Releases Proposed Specifications for Electronic Filing of W-2 and 1099 Reports

Paul Ogawa
November 19, 2019

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue recently released a new version of Publication 172, Annual W-2, 1099-R, 1099-MISC, and W-2G Electronic Reporting. This publication contains information and rules relating to electronic reporting of information returns, along with specification for the transmittal of these reports electronically. The current version is labeled as proposed guidance, pending public comment.

There are several changes from the version released for TY 2018, which include the following:

    • Beginning January 1, 2019, employers filing quarterly, monthly, or semi-monthly cannot submit an annual reconciliation of Wisconsin tax withheld (WT-7) until all withholding deposit reports (WT-6) have been filed. The filer will get a rejection or error message if (1) the total withholding tax reported on the annual reconciliation is more than the total tax reported on the withholding deposit reports or (2) one or more withholding deposits have not been filed. Withholding deposits can be in pending status with a future payment date. This requirement should reduce the number of penalties imposed on the annual reconciliation and reduce appeals
    • The state code in the 1099 & W-2G record layout should be included in field position 683 – 684 of the Payee “B” record. Previously the state code occupied positions 747-748 in this record. (NOTE: this change was included in the TY2018 specifications.)
  • Record Layout for 1099-R, 1099-MISC, W-2G and other information returns, p. 17: Media Positions 12-20 in the Payee “B” record was added for TY 2019, allowing the filer to enter the payee’s 9-digit taxpayer identification number.
  • W-2 Reporting, p. 7: The option for submitting W-2 files in a PDF format was removed in the proposed specifications.

To review this publication in its entirety, please click here.

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Author

Paul Ogawa

Paul Ogawa is a Senior Regulatory Counsel at Sovos Compliance. As part of the Regulatory Analysis team, his main areas of focus are state and federal tax withholding, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Canadian tax information reporting. Prior to Sovos, Paul worked as a litigation attorney in Boston area law firms, representing clients in insurance subrogation claims, family law matters, and employment disputes. Paul is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, earned his B.A. from Brandeis University and his J.D. from the Suffolk University Law School.
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