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                  Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration 
  
                  Specifications for Filing Forms W-2/1099 Electronically 
  
  General Information 
  
 Starting with the 2023 tax year, due January 31, 2024, the threshold for filing W2’s electronically has been reduced from 250 
 to 125. 

  W-2s 
  
  •      State of Arkansas W-2 information must be submitted on or before January 31steach year. 
  
  •      Mail electronic media to Withholding Tax Section, PO Box 8055, Little Rock, AR 72203. 
  
  •      Employers with 125 or more W-2’s are required to file electronically. 
  
  •      Accepted media for the transmission of electronic W-2 information will be: 
  
               Arkansas W-2 submission website,  https://www.ark.org/w2ffv/app/newSubmission.html 
  
               ATAP users, https://atap.arkansas.gov/ 
  
               CD 
  
               Flash/USB drive 
  Required Records 
  
  Arkansas follows the data formats as outlined in the EFW2 formats for submitting W-2 information to the Social 
  Security Administration.  All federal required fields should be submitted along with the state portion of the record 
  designated as the Code RS Record. 
  
  Required records are: 
  
  •      Code RA      Submitter Record 
  •      Code RE      Employer Record 
  •      Code RW      Employee Wage Record 
  •      Code RS      State Record 
  •      Code RT      Total Record 
  •      Code RF      Final Record 
  •      Code RCS     Corrected State Record 
  
  Not Required/Optional records are: 
  
  •      Code RO      Employee Wage Record 
  •      Code RU      Total Record 
  
  Not Allowed Record: 
  
  •      Code RV      State Total Record - Do not submit RV record 

                                     Electronic Media Specifications for submittal 
                                     of State of Arkansas W-2/1099 Information 
                                                Page 1 of 6 
                                                                                           Revised: 12/14/2023

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 Data Format 
 
 • Any file name can be used but end with the file extension .TXT 
 
 • Data must be recorded in the ASCII-1 character set. 
 
 • These are fixed length records.   Records must be     exactly 512 characters   long with a delimiter of  a 
   carriage-  return/line  feed (CR/LF)  immediately  following  character  position 512.      Typically,  this is 
   accomplished by pressing the “Enter” key at the end of each record (i.e., after position 512). 
 
 • The ASCII-1 hexadecimal value for the carriage return character is 0D (zero and letter D); the ASCII-1 
   hexadecimal value for the line feed is 0A (zero and letter A).   The ASCII-1 decimal values for the two 
   characters are 13 and 10 respectively. 
 
 • Do not place a record delimiter before the first record of a file. 
 
 • Do not place a record delimiter after a field within a record. 
 
 • Records that are not in this format will be rejected. 
 
 CODE RS Record - General 
 
 • The Code RS record as outlined in the EFW-2 format is required for State of Arkansas W-2 electronic 
   transmission.  Not all fields are required but the submission will not be rejected if these fields have data 
   in them.  If no data is reported in the non-required fields, fill the field with blanks/spaces or zeros when 
   the field is numeric. 
 
 • Supplemental Data Field 1 (Position number 338 – 412) of the Code RS record is required.  This field 
   should contain the FEIN of the company as reported in the Code RE Record.  Report the number in the 
   first nine places (left justify) and blank fill the rest (9 +66). 
   Do not include hyphens in the FEIN number. 
 
 • Supplemental Data Field 2 (Position number 413 – 487) of the Code RS record is required.  This field 
   should contain the eleven (11) digit State of Arkansas ID number (ex 12345678whw). Report the account 
   ID in the first eleven places (left justify) and blank fill the rest (9 +66).  Do not include hyphens in the ID 
   number. 
 
 CODE RS – Layout 
 
 • This is a fixed length record.  Even if the State of Arkansas does not require a field, placeholders, (blanks 
   or zeros - depending on the field) must be used in order to fill the 512 length record.  Carriage returns 
   and line feeds must be used (see previous section).  If data is available and it is easier to go ahead and 
   populate the non required fields, do so according to the federal specifications.   The State of Arkansas 
   will not reject the file unless required records are not in the proper format. 

                             Electronic Media Specifications for submittal 
                             of State of Arkansas W-2/1099 Information 
                                          Page 2 of 6 
                                                                                  Revised: 12/14/2023

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RS
FIELD NAME LENGTH SPECIFICATIONS
POSITION
1-2 Record Identifier 2 Constant “RS”
3-4 State Code 2 Enter the appropriate postal NUMERIC Code as defined in
Appendix F of the SSA’s Specifications for Filing Forms W-
2 Electronically (EFW2).

(ex: Arkansas is 05)
5-9 Taxing Entity Code 5 Fill with blanks.
10-18 Social Security 9 Enter the employee’s SSN as shown on the
Number (SSN) 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 15 If applicable, enter the employee’s middle name or initial
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.
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 defined in Appendix F of the
SSA’s Specifications for Filing Forms W-2 Electronically
(EFW2).

For a foreign address, fill with blanks.
Electronic Media Specifications for submittal
of State of Arkansas W-2/1099 Information
Page 3 of 6
Revised: 12/14/2023

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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 23 If applicable, enter the employee’s foreign state/province.
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 of the SSA’s Specifications for Filing
Forms W-2 Electronically (EFW2).
195-196 Optional Code 2 Fill with blanks.
197-202 Reporting Period 6 Enter the last month and four-digit year for the calendar
quarter for which this report applies; e.g., “032021” for
January Through March of 2021.

Applies to unemployment reporting.
203-213 State Quarterly 11 Right justify and zero fill.

Unemployment
Insurance Total
Wages Applies to unemployment reporting.
214-224 State Quarterly 11 Right justify and zero fill.

Unemployment
Insurance Total
Taxable Wages Applies to unemployment reporting.
225-226 Number of Weeks 2 Defined by State/local agency.
Worked
Applies to unemployment reporting.
227-234 Date First Employed 8 Enter the month, day and four-digit year; e.g., “01312021”.

Applies to unemployment reporting.
235-242 Date of Separation 8 Enter the month, day and four-digit year; e.g., “01312021”.

Applies to unemployment reporting.
243-247 Blank 5 Fill with Blanks. Reserved for SSA use.

Electronic Media Specifications for submittal
of State of Arkansas W-2/1099 Information
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Revised: 12/14/2023

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248-267 State Employer 20 Enter the EIN of the company as reported in the Code RE
Account Number Record.

• Only numeric characters
• Omit hyphens

Left justify and fill with blanks.

268-273 Blank 6 Fill with Blanks. Reserved for SSA use.
274-275 State Code 2 Enter the appropriate postal NUMERIC Code as defined in
Appendix F of the SSA’s Specifications for Filing Forms W-
2 Electronically (EFW2).

276-286 State Taxable Wages 11 Right justify and zero fill.
287-297 State Income Tax 11 Right justify and zero fill.
Withheld
298-307 Other State Data 10 Fill with blanks.
308 Tax Type Code 1 Fill with blanks.
309-319 Local Taxable Wages 11 Fill with blanks.
320-330 Local Income Tax 11 Fill with blanks.
Withheld
331-337 State Control Number 7 Fill with blanks.
338-412 Supplemental Data 1 75 This is a required field.

Enter the EIN of the company as reported in the Code RE
Record.

• Only numeric characters
• Omit hyphens

Left justify and fill with blanks.
413-487 Supplemental Data 2 75 This is a required field.

Enter the eleven (11) digit State of Arkansas ID number
(ex 12345678WHW).

• Omit hyphens

Left justify and fill with blanks.
488-512 Blank 25 Fill with Blanks. Reserved for SSA use.

Electronic Media Specifications for submittal
of State of Arkansas W-2/1099 Information
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Revised: 12/14/2023

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1099’s

• Due date for filing 1099’s electronically is January 31 steach year.

• The transmittal form is a photocopy of the Federal Form 1096.

• Electronic media will only be accepted by CD.

• Mail electronic media to Withholding Tax Section, PO Box 8055, Little Rock, AR 72203.

• Arkansas participates in the combined Federal/State 1099 filing program. Electronic media
specifications and layouts are presented in Publication 1220 manual published by the Internal
Revenue Service.

• All 1099 record types required to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service are required to be filed
with the State of Arkansas.

• The dollar threshold for filing, provided there is no Arkansas income tax withheld, is $2,500.00. If
Arkansas taxes are withheld, filing is required regardless of the threshold amount or current
residence.

State data should be reported in the following fields from the Payee “B” record:

Description Position

Special Data Entries 663-722

Arkansas State Income Tax Withheld 723-734

Combined Federal/State Code (enter the code 747-748
assigned to the state which to receive the
information) Refer to Part A, Sec 10, Table 1)

These numeric fields should be right justified and zero filled. Do not include dollar signs, decimal
points or commas.

Electronic Media Specifications for submittal
of State of Arkansas W-2/1099 Information
Page 6 of 6
Revised: 12/14/2023

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