Mississippi Guidelines for Providers 

  of Substitute Tax Forms 

                   Table of Contents 

  Approved Substitute Forms                  2 

  Penalties Associated With Unapproved Forms 2 

  Provider Form Key                          2 

  What Must Be Submitted for Approval        2 

  Deadlines for Submissions                  2 

  Approval Process                           3 

  General Form Standards 
  Paper Specifications                       4 
  Form Size                                  4 
  Ink Color                                  4 
  Fonts                                      4 
  Barcodes                                   4 
  Form Numbers                               5 
  Registration Marks                         5 
  Formatting Requirements                    5 
  Printing Requirements                      5 
  Instructional Text                         5 
  Taxpayer Signature                         5 
  Additional Information                     5 

1                                            Revised October 2020 

Approved Substitute Forms 

The DOR strongly encourages providers to read and understand the guidelines detailed in this document 
prior to submitting any forms to the DOR for approval. Substitute forms must be approved annually, even if 
no change has been made to the forms from the previous year. All providers of substitute forms must update 
their software package with any revised form yearly. 

All substitute  forms produced by  software providers  must be submitted to Mississippi Department of 
Revenue (DOR) for approval prior to being included in a software package for use by the general public. 
Any provider purchasing another provider’s  forms  must  submit those  forms for approval. (Example: 
Company A with provider number 123 purchases forms from Company B. Company A must submit those 
forms for approval with provider number 123.) 

Penalties Associated with Unapproved Forms 

Any deviation from the approved substitute version of a form is subject to penalties. A penalty of $25.00 
per form in a return  may  be assessed to software providers  who  distribute unapproved forms, tax 
practitioners who improperly use substitute forms to prepare returns, or the taxpayer who submits the non- 
compliant return. 

Each year DOR posts annual barcoded provider forms on its website. These forms should not be released to 
other software providers, practitioners or taxpayers for submission to DOR with a processing date before 
January 2nd. Release of these forms to the public is the responsibility of each software provider. All 
providers, practitioners, and taxpayers are subject to a penalty of $25.00 per form. Individual Income Tax 
(IIT), Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Pass-Through Entity (PTE) and Withholding Income Tax (WIT) should 
not be submitted to DOR for processing before the annual processing date of January 2nd.Sales tax forms 
should not be submitted before August 2nd. Forms submitted before their processing date, even if they are 
approved, will be considered unapproved forms and will be subject to the penalties outlined above. 

Provider Form Key 

DOR provides a key for every form for providers to use to create their versions of the form. Each page 
contains a key with a 10x6 grid overlay. The key specifies the exact position of the barcode, registration 
marks and data capture areas along with the proper format for all data fields. Alpha fields are represented by 
Xs, alpha numeric fields are represented by a combination of Xs and 9s and numeric fields are represented 
by 9s. The maximum length of each field is represented by the number of Xs and/or 9s shown. 

What Must Be Submitted for Approval 

Two (2) copies of each form must be submitted for approval as follows: 

1.  One version of each form with every field completely filled out to the maximum length. This version
    should have a value in every field that contains the corresponding format of X, X9 or 9 as indicated on
    the key. This copy, in addition to helping us judge data placement, indicates to MDOR that you as a
    provider are aware of the maximum field lengths and will not allow a return to be printed in excess of
    those lengths.

2.  One version of each form containing simulated taxpayer data. This version should contain the data that
    would be prepared for the taxpayer to be mailed to DOR. Please include data in as  many  fields as
    possible in your simulated data.

2                                                                                                  Revised October 2020 

Approval Process 

  1. Provider downloads the Form Key from:

     • Providers must retrieve the Corporate, Pass-Through Entity, and Individual forms from:
                 https://taxadmin.kiteworks.com 
     • Providers must have a User ID and Password to access the DOR Provider Forms for
       Withholding, Sales & Use forms. That User ID and Password are entered at the
       following address: http://www.dor.ms.gov/Pages/NACTP-Members.aspx
     • If you do not have a User ID and Password, contact the Forms Coordinator.
     • Form Keys are available as Adobe PDF files – they will not be mailed.

  2. Provider sends a submission packet for approval.

     • Sales Tax Forms shall be submitted for approval by July 15th of each tax year.
     • Income, Corporate and Withholding Tax forms shall be submitted by December 1st of
       each tax year.
     • The method for all approvals is PDF format sent to ProviderForms@dor.ms.gov
     • Providers may submit all forms within a tax type (IIT, CIT, and PTE) in one email to
       expedite the approval process. Providers are asked to only  include  forms  of  one  tax
       type(1  email  for  IIT,  1  email  for CIT, 1 email for PTE) in  each  email. Please
       submit each individual form as a separate PDF file that includes both your full field and
       simulated data copies.
     • Submissions should contain all forms from the same tax type. You should not    submit
       Individual and Corporate forms together in the same submission.
     • Forms will be reviewed for approval as they are received.
     • Forms should be submitted with the following naming convention:

          80-105(100)

       The first part is the form number, in this case 80-105, while the second part is the 3 digit 
       provider number assigned to the company by the state. 

  3. Communication to the Provider regarding form approval status.

     • Upon receipt of the submission, DOR will send an email acknowledging receipt of the
       submission before the approval process begins.
     • When the approval process is complete, the provider will be notified by email of the
       approval or disapproval of each submitted form.
     • Our approvals/disapprovals will be sent in the form of a PDF file. The top right of the
       first page of the PDF will have an electronic stamp of either Approved or Not
       Approved.
     • Forms marked Not Approved will have the corrections marked on them and must be 
       corrected and resubmitted for approval.
     • Approvals are valid for one tax year.
     • If after the forms are approved there is a problem with the forms that the taxpayers are
       submitting, it may be required that software providers submit their software for
       inspection.
     • It is the goal of DOR to respond to approval requests within  7business days of
       receipt of the forms. We encourage and welcome any questions and/or feedback you
       can provide us on how to simplify and improve this process.

3                                                                                     Revised October 2020 

  4.  Approved Providers will be posted on the DOR website.

      When a provider submits a form for approval, that form will be added to the list of supported forms
      for that provider. Every form (per tax type) that is submitted will be marked as approved or not
      approved. Forms that are approved show the actual approval date and those that are not will be
      blank. This listing will be updated on a regular basis during the approval season and the date of the
      last update will also be shown. If at any time you see a discrepancy in what we show as
      approved/not approved, please let us know.

  5.  Approved forms should not be released to the public until the appropriate time.

      When a form has been approved, it is approved starting at the appropriate time for its process date. For Sales
      Tax, newly approved forms should be released with a processing date of August 1stto coincide with the due
      date of the July period forms. For Individual, Corporate, and Withholding forms, newly approved forms
      should be released to the public after January 2nd.

      If the Mississippi Department of Revenue receives new forms before the above dates, they will be unable to
      be processed, and those forms will be treated in the same manner as Unapproved Forms, subject to the same
      fines as outlined in that section above.

General Form Standards 

Paper Specifications 
      Size - Forms must be designed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. 
      Weight - The minimum recommended paper weight is 20 pound bond. 
      Color - White provides a high degree of legibility and contrast and is the recommended color. 

Form size 
      The standard form size is 8.5 x 11 inches unless otherwise specified. 
      Forms that are specified as coupon size include a line at the bottom indicating where the 
      taxpayer must cut the form. Failure to cut the return to the correct size may result in a 
      penalty to the taxpayer. Please include this requirement in the instructions you provide 
      to the taxpayer. 

Ink color 
      Black ink is required. 

Fonts 
      Courier New 12 point font is recommended for information placed onto the form. 

Barcodes 
      The barcode must be of type 2 of 5 interleaved. 
      The barcode is positioned .5 " from the top and left edges of the 
      page. Exact positioning of the barcode is required. 
      The barcode number is a 12 digit number made up of the following numbering 

      scheme: Example: Form 80-105-17-3-1-222 

                       80 - Tax 
                       Division Prefix 
                       105 - Form 
                       Number 
4                                                                                               Revised October 2020 

                        15 - Year of Form 
                        3 - Version 
                        within the Year 
                        1 - Page Number 
                        XXX - Provider Number - assigned to each software vendor by DOR 

  This is page 1 of the 2015 Resident Income Tax form, produced by the provider assigned 
  the number 222. 

Form numbers 
  The form number must be printed in full on the form above the barcode. 
  Form numbers are provided on the forms posted on our webpage. The assigned provider 
  number must be obtained from our Forms Coordinator at ProviderForms@dor.ms.gov. 
  You should place the provider number assigned to your organization in the barcode on 
  the sample forms submitted to DOR for approval. If you purchase forms from another 
  software provider, your Provider Number must appear in the bottom left corner of the 
  forms. The form vendor's number remains in the barcode and full form number. 

Registration Marks 
  The length and thickness should match the sample forms provided on our webpage. Exact 
  positioning of registration marks is required. 

Formatting Requirements 
  Alpha and alpha numeric fields are left justified. Numeric fields are right justified. All amount 
  fields should be rounded to the nearest dollar. Lines and check boxes should not be included. 
  Commas should not be included in numeric fields. Decimal points should only appear in percentage 
  fields if indicated by the key. 

Printing Requirements 
  All forms must be printed simplex (single- sided). Double sided forms are not acceptable. All 
  returns submitted must be originals. 
  Photocopies of a return are not acceptable. 

Instructional Text 
  Instructions furnished by DOR should be provided to the taxpayer. Do not submit instructions 
  back for approval. 

Taxpayer Signature 
  All tax returns must be signed by the taxpayer(s). Any signature on substitute or computer- 
  generated forms must be the original. 

Additional Information 
  Several providers add their own internal numbers to the forms. This practice is acceptable as long 
  as the numbers do not interfere with the barcode, registration marks or data capture fields. 

5                                                                                       Revised October 2020