Appendix 1

 THE 120 - BYTE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT RECORD


This example is valid only for acknowledgements for some state 1040 returns or their
equivalent.  For acknowledgements for other types of returns (1065, etc.), call the state revenue department.

Although AKSYS can receive and process many different types of acknowledgement records, the most common format for acknowledgements for state personal income tax forms is that of the 120-byte record used by most state revenue departments.

Section 5 of the operating instructions booklet for transmitters demonstrates the files -- a file of current acknowledgements and a dummy file -- that a transmitter can download from AKSYS and the location of the acknowledgement records in the current file. The first record in each file is the identification record   "0120****THIS IS AKSYS."  The information record (accounting record) is the last record in a current file or in a dummy file.  Each record in all of the files is space padded (for alphabetic fields) and zero-filled (for numeric fields) to the 119th byte, inclusively, where necessary, and the 120th byte is the pound sign "#". 

The acknowledgement records consist of fields that provide a transmitter with information about state returns that he transmitted electronically and which have been received by a state revenue department. In the example below, a lower case black "b" indicates a space. XX is the State Packet Code.

0120****ACKbbbbY400001001507900008705001000000001200 AD000b200601290084041400310600

Y1126bbbbbbbbbPYMNTbRQSTbRVCD0bSObXX#

 This can be separated into the following fields.

 0120  ****  ACKbbb  b  Y  400001001  5079000087050010  00000001200  A  D00  0  b

20060129  00840414003106  00  Y1126bbbbbbbb   b  PYMNTbRQST  0  b  SO  b  XX #

Field Data 0120 **** ACKbbb b Y 400001001
Field Number 1 2 3 4 5 6

Field Data 507900008
7050010		 00000001200  A D00 0 b
Field Number 7 8 9 10 11 12

 

Field Data 20060129 00840414
003106		 00 Y 1126 bbbbbbbb
Field Number 13 14 15 16 17 18

                                                    

Field Data b PYMNTb
RQST		 0 b SO b
Field Number 19 20 21 22 23 24
 
Field Data XX #        
Field Number 25 26        

 
 

Explanation of the Data Fields

 
Field Number Field Length in Bytes

Explanation

In the following explanation column entries, red indicates a data field that is required by AKSYS. All other fields are optional and can be zero- or space-filled, depending on the type of field.
1 4 Byte count. Value always "0120".
2 4 Start of Record Sentinel. Value always "****".
3 6 Record ID. Value always "ACK   ".
4 1 Reserved. IP Address Code. Space
5 1 EIC Indicator. "Y" or space.
6 9 Primary SSN. 
7 16 Return Sequence Number (RSN).
8 12 Refund or Balance Due. Numeric.
9 1 Acceptance Code.
  This field contains a letter that shows whether a state accepted or rejected a return, or the code can have another meaning.

Usually, the codes used in this field are defined as follows. However, you should check the state's handbook to make sure that the state has not assigned another meaning to each code.
A     Accepted.     This means that the state has received the return, but it might not always mean that there were no errors.
R     Rejected. 
D     Duplicate return.    The return was filed more than once.
T     Transmission Rejected. 
10 3 Duplicate Code. Numeric
  D     Duplicate DCN     
P     Duplicate Primary SSN
S     Duplicate Spouse SSN
11 1 PIN Presence Indicator.  Numeric.  0,1, 2, 3, 4, 9,  or as assigned by a state revenue department. Usually will be as follows.
  0    No PIN
1   Practitioner PIN
2   Self-Select PIN by practitioner
3   Self-Select PIN online
4   State Only No PIN
9   State PIN not relevant
12 1 Always Space
13 8 Date Accepted.  Always YYYYMMDD
14 14 Return DCN.
15 2 Number of Error Records. Numeric.  Value 00 to 96.
16 1 Filed School District Return Electronically? "Y", "N", or blank
17 4 School District Number if Field Number 16 is "Y", zeros if "N" or blank. Leading zero filled.
18 8 Always Spaces.
19 1 State DD Indicator. Space
20 15 Payment Acknowledgement Literal. Value "PYMNT 
RQST RVCD" or spaces.
21 1 Date of Birth Validity Code. Numeric. As follows.
  0   Date of birth validation not required.
1   All dates of birth valid
2   Primary date of birth mismatch
3  Spouse date of birth mismatch
4  Both dates of birth mismatch
22 1 Space
23 2 State Only Code.  "SO" or spaces.
24 1 Debt Code. As Follows or space.
  N   None
I    IRS debt
F  FMS debt
B  IRS and FMS debt
25 2 State Packet Code.  Two-character state abbreviation.
26 1 Record Terminus Character. Always "#"
 
November 11, 2009
STARPATHS INCORPORATED