PDF document

- 1 -

                                                                             EFW2 Reporting for Municipal Income Tax – 2023 
                                                                                                                    Page 1 of 4  
                                                                                                                                                  
The file submitted for municipal income tax must include all of the records that are submitted to the Social Security Administration for W2 wage 
reporting in the EFW2 format.  This file in the EFW2 format must meet the same requirements as the Social Security Administration.  The file 
must include all of the following record types:     
RA  -  Submitter Record, RE  -  Employer Record, RW  -  Wage Record, RS -  State Wage Record, (Used for City reporting), RT  -  Total 
Record, RF  -  Final Record. 
 
Instructions per the Social Security Administration Publication No. 42-007 EFW2 Tax Year 2023 V.1 
 
3.2 File Requirements  
 
3.2.1 RA (Submitter) Record ***REQUIRED*** 
  •  Must be the first data record on each file. 
  •  Make the address entries specific enough to ensure proper delivery.  
  
3.2.2 RE (Employer) Record ***REQUIRED*** 
  •  The first RE (Employer) Record must follow the RA (Submitter) Record.  
  •  Following the last RW(Employee)/RO (Employee Optional)/RS (State) Record for the employer, create an RT (Total)/RU (Total 
    Optional)/RV (   State Total) Record and then create either the:  
     -      RE (Employer) Record for the next employer in the submission; or  
     -      RF (Final) Record if this is the last report in the submission.  
  •  When the same employer information applies to multiple RW (Employee)/RO (Employee Optional) Records, group them together 
    under a single RE (Employer) Record. Unnecessary RE (Employer) Records can cause serious processing errors or delays.  
 
3.2.3 RW (Employee) Record and RO (Employee Optional) Record ***RW REQUIRED*** 
  •  Following each RE (Employer) Record, include the RW (Employee) Record(s) for that RE (Employer) Record immediately followed by 
    the RO (Employee Optional) Record(s). If an RO (Employee Optional) Record is required for an employee, it must immediately follow 
    that employee’s RW (Employee) Record.  
  •  The RO (Employee Optional) Record is required if one or more of the fields must be completed because the field(s) applies to an 
    employee. If just one field applies, the entire record must be completed.  
  •  Do not complete an RO (Employee Optional) Record if only blanks and zeros would be entered in positions 3 - 512. Write RO 
    (Employee Optional) Records only for those employees who have RO (Employee Optional) Record information to report.  
  
3.2.4 RS (State) Record) ***RS REQUIRED*** 
  •  The RS (State) Record is an optional record; SSA and IRS do not read or process this information.  
    HOWEVER, this is the record municipalities use for local wage and local income tax information! 
  •  Contact your State Revenue Agency to confirm the use of this record format and for questions about field definitions, covering 
    transmittals, reporting procedures, etc. The IRS has a helpful website for State contacts at www.irs.gov/businesses/small-
    businesses-self-employed/state-links-1 .  
  •  The RS (State) Record should follow the related RW (Employee) Record (or RO (Employee Optional) Record).  
  •  If there are multiple RS (State) Records for an employee, include all of the RS (State) Records for the employee immediately after the 
    related RW (Employee) or RO (Employee Optional) Record.  
  •  Do not generate this record if only blanks would be entered after the record identifier.  
 
3.2.5 RT (Total) Record and RU (Total Optional) Record ***RT REQUIRED*** 
  • The RT (Total) Record must be generated for each RE (Employer) Record.  
  • The RU (Total Optional) Record is required if an RO (Employee Optional) Record is prepared.  
  • If just one field applies, the entire record must be completed.  
  • Do not complete an RU (Total Optional) Record if only zeros would be entered in positions 3 - 512.  
     
3.2.6 RV (State Total) Record)  
  •  The RV (State Total) Record is an optional record; SSA and IRS do not read or process this information.  
  •  Contact your State Revenue Agency to confirm the use of this record format and for questions about field definitions, covering 
    transmittals, reporting procedures, etc.  
  •  The RV (State Total) Record should follow the RU (Total Optional) Record. If no RU (Total Optional) Record is in the submission, then 
    it should follow the RT (Total) Record.  
  •  If no RS (State) Records are prepared, do not prepare an RV (State Total) Record.  
  •  Do not generate this record if only blanks would be entered after the record identifier.  
 
3.2.7 RF (Final) Record ***REQUIRED*** 
  •  Must be the last record on the file.  
  •  Must appear only once on each file.  
  •  Do not create a file that contains any data recorded after the RF (Final) Record. Your submission will not be processed if it contains 
    data after the RF (Final) Record.  

     MITS / The Baldwin Group, Inc.  |  7550 Lucerne Drive, Suite 306  |  Cleveland, OH 44130  |  Phone: 440-891-9100  |  Fax: 440-891-9458 
                                                    Email: support@baldwingroup.com 
                                                    Copyright 2003-2023 / All Rights Reserved

- 2 -

EFW2 Reporting for Municipal Income Tax – 2023
Page 2 of 4

As indicated, the RS record is utilized for reporting of local wage and tax information.
Below is a synopsis of the RS record :

1. Record Identification must be ‘RS’
2. Taxing Entity Code must contain the description or code of the locality where taxes were withheld.
THIS CAN BE THE FIRST FIVE LETTERS OF THE CITY NAME.
3. Employee Social Security Number
4. Employee First Name
5. Employee Middle Name or Initial (optional)
6. Employee Last Name
7. Employee Name Suffix (optional)
8. Location Address (optional)
9. Delivery Address
10. City
11. State
12. Zip Code
13. Zip Code Extension (optional)
14. Foreign State/Province (optional)
15. Foreign Postal Code (optional)
16. Country Code (optional)
17. Tax Type Code (must contain ‘C’ for City Income Tax)
18. Local Taxable Wages (zero fill and right justify with no negative amounts or decimals)
19. Local Income Tax (zero fill and right justify with no negative amounts or decimals)

The following is a copy of the EFW2 record definition for the ‘RS’ (state record) record type taken from the Social Security
Administration publication.

CODE RS - State Record

RS FIELD NAME LENGTH SPECIFICATIONS
POSITION
1-2 Record Identifier 2 Constant "RS".
3-4 State Code 2 Enter the appropriate postal NUMERIC Code (see Appendix F).
5-9 Taxing Entity Code 5 Defined by State/local agency.
(The first five letters of the city name can be used.)
10-18 Social Security Number (SSN) 9 Enter the employee's SSN as shown on the original/replacement SSN
card issued by SSA.
If no SSN is available, enter zeros.
19-33 Employee First Name 15 Enter the employee's first name as shown on the SSN card.
Left justify and fill with blanks.
34-48 Employee Middle Name or Initial 15 If applicable, enter the employee's middle name or initial as shown on
the SSN card.
Left justify and fill with blanks.
Otherwise, fill with blanks.
49-68 Employee Last Name 20 Enter the employee's last name as shown on the SSN card.
Left justify and fill with blanks.
69-72 Suffix 4 If applicable, enter the employee's alphabetic suffix.
For example: SR, JR
Left justify and fill with blanks.
Otherwise, fill with blanks.
73-94 Location Address 22 Enter the employee's location address (Attention, Suite, Room
Number, etc.).
Left justify and fill with blanks.
95-116 Delivery Address 22 Enter the employee's delivery address.
Left justify and fill with blanks.

MITS / The Baldwin Group, Inc. | 7550 Lucerne Drive, Suite 306 | Cleveland, OH 44130 | Phone: 440-891-9100 | Fax: 440-891-9458
Email: support@baldwingroup.com
Copyright 2003-2023 / All Rights Reserved

- 3 -

EFW2 Reporting for Municipal Income Tax – 2023
Page 3 of 4

RS FIELD NAME LENGTH SPECIFICATIONS
POSITION
117-138 City 22 Enter the employee's city.
Left justify and fill with blanks.
139-140 State Abbreviation 2 Enter the employee's State or commonwealth/territory.
Use a postal abbreviation as shown in Appendix F.
For a foreign address, fill with blanks.
141-145 ZIP Code 5 Enter the employee's ZIP code.
For a foreign address, fill with blanks.
146-149 ZIP Code Extension 4 Enter the employee's four-digit extension of the ZIP code.
If not applicable, fill with blanks.
150-154 Blank 5 Fill with blanks. Reserved for SSA use.
155-177 Foreign State/ Province 23 If applicable, enter the employee's foreign State/province.
Left justify and fill with blanks.
Otherwise, fill with blanks.
178-192 Foreign Postal Code 15 If applicable, enter the employee's foreign postal code.
Left justify and fill with blanks.
Otherwise, fill with blanks.
193-194 Country Code 2 If one of the following applies, fill with blanks:
• One of the 50 States of the U.S.A.
• District of Columbia
• Military Post Office (MPO)
• American Samoa
• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Puerto Rico
• Virgin Islands

Otherwise, enter the employee's applicable Country Code (see
Appendix G).
195-196 Optional Code 2 Defined by State/local agency.
Applies to unemployment reporting.
197-202 Reporting Period 6 Enter the last month and four-digit year for the calendar quarter for
which this report applies; e.g., “032023” for January through March of
2023.
Applies to unemployment reporting.
203-213 State Quarterly Unemployment Insurance 11 Right justify and zero fill.
Total Wages Applies to unemployment reporting.
214-224 State Quarterly Unemployment Insurance 11 Right justify and zero fill.
Total Taxable Wages Applies to unemployment reporting.
225-226 Number of Weeks Worked 2 Defined by State/local agency.
Applies to unemployment reporting.
227-234 Date First Employed 8 Enter the month, day and four-digit year; e.g., "01312022."
Applies to unemployment reporting.
*235-242 Date of Separation 8 Enter the month, day and four-digit year; e.g., “01312022.”
Applies to unemployment reporting.
243-247 Blank 5 Fill with blanks. Reserved for SSA use.
248-267 State Employer Account Number 20 See Glossary, Appendix J.
Applies to unemployment reporting.
268-273 Blank 6 Fill with blanks. Reserved for SSA use.
274-275 State Code 2 Enter the appropriate postal NUMERIC Code (see Appendix F).
Applies to income tax reporting.

- 4 -

EFW2 Reporting for Municipal Income Tax – 2023
Page 4 of 4

RS FIELD NAME LENGTH SPECIFICATIONS
POSITION
276-286 State Taxable Wages 11 Right justify and zero fill.
Applies to income tax reporting.
287-297 State Income Tax Withheld 11 Right justify and zero fill.
Applies to income tax reporting.
298-307 Other State Data 10 Defined by State/local agency.
Applies to income tax reporting.
308 Tax Type Code 1 Enter the appropriate code for entries in fields 309 – 330:
• C = City Income Tax
• D = County Income Tax
• E = School District Income Tax
• F = Other Income Tax

Applies to income tax reporting.
309-319 Local Taxable Wages 11 To be defined by State/local agency.
Applies to income tax reporting.
320-330 Local Income Tax Withheld 11 To be defined by State/local agency.
Applies to income tax reporting.
331-337 State Control Number 7 Optional.
Applies to income tax reporting.
338-412 Supplemental Data 1 75 Municipality Name of withholding cities OTHER THAN the
Additional Municipality Name** reporting city (the one for whom you are creating this file).
(Per HB5) ASK THE REPORTING MUNICIPALITY IF THEY WANT THIS
DATA!!! If not, left justify and fill with blanks.
413-487 Supplemental Data 2 75 To be defined by user.
488-512 Blank 25 Fill with blanks. Reserved for SSA use.

** For an employee that has local income tax wages and withholding for multiple cities, the file should
look like this (in part):

Positions Position Positions Positions Positions MITS
5-9 308 309-319 320-330 338-412 NOTES
RW All information must be included in this record.
RS Eucli C 25000.00 100.00 Notice there is nothing in positions 338-412 for this RS record
because the wages and withholding are for the reporting city.
RS C 10000.00 50.00 Bedford Notice there is nothing in positions 5-9 because these wages and
withholding are not for the reporting city.
The additional withholding city name is listed in positions 338-412.
RS C 8000.00 35.00 Cleveland Notice there is nothing in positions 5-9 because these wages and
withholding are not for the reporting city.
The additional withholding city name is listed in positions 338-412.

Before submitting your file to the municipality, ask yourself these questions:
• Does at least one RS record follow every RW record?
• Is there a “C” in position 308 for each RS record?
• Does your file have all additional required records? (RA, RE, RT, RF)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE TO TEST YOUR FILE FOR BGI MUNICIPALITIES:
http://www.baldwingroup.com/MITS/W2VerificationSetup.exe
The above link is case sensitive!
Download this software to test your file compatibility with the municipalities’ software.

PDF file checksum: 1245045624

(Plugin #1/9.12/13.0)