REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC W-2 FILING  
                                                                                                          
            THE CITY OF LANSING REQUIRES ALL EMPLOYERS THAT HAVE 10 OR MORE 
             EMPLOYEES FILE THEIR W2(s) BY ELECTRONIC MEDIA. 
    
            ALL PAYROLL PROVIDERS THAT HAVE MULTIPLE LANSING WITHOLDERS AS 
             CLIENTS ARE REQUIRED TO FILE ALL CLIENT’S W2s BY ELECTRONIC MEDIA.  
    
            IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WITH THESE REQUIREMENTS YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE 
             RETURNED, SO PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. 
 
  ACCEPTABLE MEDIA:                       CD-ROM           USB Drive          Email 
              
  Caution:     Password protected and encrypted files are highly recommended whenever  
               submitting sensitive information 
   
               Floppy disks are no longer acceptable and will be returned to the sender 
  
  LOCAL ENTITY CODES 
  The entity code MUST be included.  The entity code signifies the locality name that you withheld for.  
  We can not give your employees credit for their withholding if you do not designate Lansing as the 
  locality.  Seea listing of local entity codes in these instructions. 
   
                                          LANSING           LAN 
   
  IF THE LOCAL ENTITY CODE IS NOT INCLUDED, YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE RETURNED 
   
  REQUIREMENTS:            
  Local information is not a requirement for the federal government but it is a requirement for Lansing 
  electronic filing.  Please include the RS records or talk to your programmer about including RS records 
  for employees who are taxable to the City of Lansing. The RS record MUST be included along with 
  the RW federal record.  RS record provides locality information; the codes used by other 
  programs are meaningless to the City of Lansing. If this  data is not included, your information 
  will be returned.                 
                                                          
  ELECTRONIC FILING: 
   
  The City of Lansing is accepting electronic filing for W2 statements.  Please include the LW3  
  Reconciliation form along with the acceptable media, as detailed in the instructions below.  
   
  There are two acceptable formats when electronic filing for the City of Lansing: 
     Federal Filing Format—MMREF-1/EFW2 FILE  
     CityTax Proprietary Format—CTP    
   
 1.    Acceptable media:  Data is to be submitted either by CD-ROM, USB DRIVE or EMAIL. Floppy disks are 
  no longer accepted and will be returned.  The file must be named W2REPORT and must be in the root 
  directory.   

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 2. If using the alternate CityTax Proprietary format a file extension of .csv must be attached    
    to the file. 
 3. If more than one file of W-2 information is being submitted, each file must be named as follows:   
    W2REPORT1, W2REPORT2, and W2REPORT3.  
 4. Email your report to withholding@lansingmi.gov  please include in the subject  
    line: W2REPORT and FEIN.  Attach the W2 report and LW3 report.   
  
 City Tax Proprietary Format (CTP) 
 This is a simple format for a single employer.  It may be created using Microsoft Excel; and should be in a 
 Comma Delimited format.  Details are listed on the following page.  
    All text must be in upper case.   
    If leading zeros on a Social Security Number or Zip code does not show, this is all right. 
    All dollar amounts should be entered as a normal number with a decimal point, such as 
        5100.50. 
    Do not leave blank lines between information. 
    Do NOT use column headings; start employer information in cell A1.  
  
 Submitting W2(s) Electronically 
 Important:   The RS record MUST       be included in addition to the RW record. Please provide 
 only local tax information for the City of Lansing.  For the RW record, follow all federal 
 requirements. For the RS record, the following table lists critical fields when using the 
 MMREF/EFW2 FILE to submit W2s electronically: 
                                                                       
                                              MMREF/            CTP                    
                                                 EFW2                               
                                                 FILE                  
    Local Entity Code     Record                    RS          CTW    
                          Start Position              5         12     
                          Length                      5         --     
                                                                       
                          Value                     LAN         LAN    
    Local                 Record                    RS          CTW    
    Withholding                                                        
                          Start Position            320         13     
                          Length                      11        --     
    Local Taxable         Record                    RS          CTW    
                                                                       
                          Start Position            309         11     
                                                                       
                          Length                      11        --     
 Using Excel to Submit W2s electronically 
 1.  Open a new spreadsheet. 
 2.  To start, enter the employer information on the first line (cell A1) as indicated below; entering 
    one value per column. The letter shown at the start of each line must match the letter at the 
    top of the column in Excel.  Skip the column if blank.  All alpha entries must be upper case. 
 3.  For each employee, starting on line 2, column (A) and entering one field per column.  
 4.  To save your file, click on “File”, then “Save-As”.  Enter the file name:  W2REPORT & FEIN.  
    From the drop down list in “Save As Type” select, “CSV (Command Delimited) (*.csv) and 
    click on the save button. 
 5.  Email directly or copy to a CD OR USB DRIVE and mail (addresses page 4). 

                                                      2 

 First Line: Employer 

 A. CTE.............................................................................................. text exactly as shown 

 B. Employer FEIN or Tax ID ......................................... 9 digits no spaces or punctuation 

 C. Tax Year ............................................................................................................. 4 digits 

 D. Employer name 

 E. Corporate ................................................................. C if a corporation, blank otherwise 

 F. Employer street address ............................................................................. No commas 

 G. Employer City 

 H. Employer State .......................................................................................... 2 characters 

 I. Employer Zipcode .........................................5 digits (or 6 characters if foreign country) 

 J. Employer Zip code Plus4 .................................................................................... 4 digits 

 Remaining Lines: One per Employee 

 A. CTW ............................................................................................ text exactly as shown 

 B. Employee SSN ......................................................... 9 digits no spaces or punctuation 

 C. Employee Last Name 

 D. Employee First Name 

 E. Employee Middle Name 

 F. Employee Street address……………………………...………..No commas, slashes, etc. 

 G. Employee City 

 H. Employee State ......................................................................................... 2 characters 

 I. Employee Zip code .......................................5 digits (or 6 characters if foreign country) 

 J. Employee Zip code Plus4 .................................................................................... 4 digits 

 K. Federal Wages ..................................................................................................... Box 1 

 L. Local Entity Code ........................................................................ See table Page 1 or 4 

 M. Local Withholding .................................. Entered as normal number with decimal point 

                                   3 

  N. Social Security Wages ......................................................................................... Box 3 

  O. Medicare Wages .................................................................................................. Box 5 

  P. Local Wages ....................................................................................................... Box 18 

  Q. Total Deferred ................................................................................. Included in Box 12 

  How to submit your W2 file and LW3 report Information 
   
  Email:                          Withholding@lansingmi.gov 
   
  Mail to (only if you have less than 10 employees):  
   
  Lansing Income Tax Division 
  Withholding 
                    st
  124 W. Michigan Avenue 1  Floor 
  Lansing MI  48933 
   
Albion         ALB            Highland                HP    Pontiac                                                             PNT 
                              Park 
Battle Creek   BC             Hudson                  HUD   Port  Huron                                                         PH 

Big Rapids     BR             Ionia                   ION   Portland                                                            POR 

Detroit        DET            Jackson                 JAC   Saginaw                                                             SAG 

Grand          GR             Lapeer                  LAP   Walker                                                              WALK 
Rapids 
Grayling       GRA            Muskegon                MKG   Muskegon                                                            MH 
                                                            Heights 
Hamtramck      HAM            Springfield             SPR   Flint                                                               FL 
                                                       
                              LANSING                 LAN                                                                        

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