IRS Ramping Up Barcode Project

This year, the IRS plans to process several million 2D barcoded tax forms after getting the ball rolling last year with a pilot program. Last year, three 2D barcoded Schedule K-1 forms were available on a limited basis. This year, the IRS has “permanently adopted” the technology for two Schedule K-1 forms, the 1120S and the 1065S, as well as a third form, the 8823.

“A lot of states are adopting 2D barcode technology for their tax returns,” said Paul Showalter, senior publishing analyst in the IRS’ Media and Publications Division. “They were having success, so we decided to try it. The pilot was fairly successful, although the barcodes took a little longer to process than we would have liked. We’ve corrected that problem this year by reducing their size.”

The IRS publishes specifications for the barcodes that can be utilized by tax software vendors. The IRS also makes its own PDF forms available that incorporate the 2D barcodes. This year, barcoded forms will be available from the IRS both online and on its Tax Products CD.

“Eventually, we would like everyone to file electronically,” said Showalter. “But for a litany of reasons, we expect to continue to receive paper forms. To improve our paper processing, we’ve started barcode-enabling some of the simpler, more straightforward forms. We have a total of 500-600 forms, and I don’t see any reason why this technology couldn’t be applied to most of them. Granted, we are transitioning some of the business forms to strictly electronic filing, so those will be eliminated. And some of the forms have designs that won’t permit a 2D barcode to be included. However, redesign is a possibility.”

For more information: http://www.irs.gov