Tax and Revenue Administration Alberta Corporate Tax Act Information Circular CT-14R1

CT-14R1 / April 1999

ALBERTA CORPORATE TAX ACT INFORMATION CIRCULAR:
LASER FACSIMILE AND COMPUTER-GENERATED TAX FORMS

This Information Circular describes the policy of Tax and Revenue Administration ("TRA") on the use of laser facsimile and computer-generated forms in lieu of the forms prescribed under the Alberta Income Tax Act (the "Act") and which are produced and supplied by TRA. These forms may only be used for taxation years that end prior to 1998. The topics discussed include:

• Overview
• Standards Applicable to all Forms
• Laser Facsimile Forms
• Computer-generated Forms
• Submission of Samples for Approval

The policy discussed in this Circular applies to the Alberta Corporate Income Tax return (form AT1), schedules to the return, the Alberta Royalty Credit Application for Individuals and Trusts (form AT60), and any other related forms under the Act.

Effective January 1, 1999, laser facsimile and computer-generated income tax forms for taxation years ending in or after 1998 will not be accepted by TRA.

OVERVIEW

1. Laser facsimile and computer-generated forms are forms containing both formatted and variable information generated by a computer software program. The following differences exist between the two types of software generated forms:
   
   
   • A laser facsimile form is a form printed by laser printer that, in appearance and content, is an exact replica of the prescribed tax form.
   • A computer-generated form may not resemble the prescribed TRA form in appearance but contains the basic, essential data of the prescribed TRA form.
     
     
2. In the interests of reducing taxpayer costs and simplifying the preparation of Alberta tax returns and claim forms, TRA accepts laser facsimile and computer-generated versions of certain forms prescribed under the Act, provided they meet TRA's established standards. These standards reflect a compromise between TRA's desire to accommodate the diverse range of processing options available to tax-preparers and TRA's need for sufficient uniformity in forms to enable accurate and efficient internal processing.
   
   
3. Taxpayers and claimants are ultimately responsible for the submission of their tax returns or claim forms in an acceptable format. If a submitted return or claim form does not meet the standards described in this Circular, it will be returned to the originator for resubmission in proper form. Where an unacceptable form has been returned to the originator, it must be resubmitted promptly to TRA to avoid or minimize the possible application of late-filing penalties. If an unacceptable return is accompanied by a payment, the effective date of the payment for interest calculations will be its actual date of receipt.
   
   
4. Suppliers of software programs and persons who develop, for their own use, programs for preparing and printing returns and forms, must submit a sample of their draft forms for approval by TRA prior to the finalization and use of the forms. Only pre-approved forms will be accepted by TRA.

STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO ALL FORMS

5. The following standards are common to both laser facsimile and computer-generated forms:
   
   • Paper size must be 21.5 cm x 28 cm (8½" x 11");
   • Paper stock must be plain, 75 g/m² (20 lb) standard weight white bond;
   • Non-carbon reproduction paper ("NCR") is not acceptable;
   • A minimum margin of 6mm (¼") should be provided on all sides;
   • No more than one schedule is to appear on each page. To facilitate computer printing, the front and back of a form may appear on separate pages;
   • Print face must be black;
   • Compressed print or photo reductions are not acceptable;
   • Data field numbers must be identical to those which appear on the prescribed form for the relevant year;
   • Addresses should conform to following standards:
     • There should be no punctuation in the address;
     • The province or state must be identified by the two character international code; and
     • The postal code must be in the correct alpha/numeric format;
   • Date fields must be presented as YY/MM/DD (numeric) unless otherwise specified;
   • All financial fields on the AT1 return and schedules and the AT60 application form must be rounded to the nearest dollar. Omit the cents completely or zero-fill the cents. Commas must be used to separate every three digits;
   • Financial fields with nil values must have the numeric "0" printed in the dollar field. Do not enter "N/A" or "Nil";
   • The name, filing period end and account number should be printed at the top of each page of each schedule and on each page of the return or claim form;
   • The form number/month-year designation which appears at the bottom left of the prescribed forms must be reproduced and similarly located on each form; and
   • The "Service Agency's Name" of the developer of the forms software must be printed in the bottom right hand corner of every form.

LASER FACSIMILE FORMS

6. In order that a laser facsimile form look as much as possible like the TRA form, the following standards apply in addition to the standards described in paragraph 5:
   
   
   • The top of page 1 of the form must have a banner portion, approximately one inch deep. The banner on TRA forms is blue but grey shading will be accepted;
   • The Alberta logo must appear in the left-hand side of the banner;
   • The form name must appear in the right-hand side of the banner;
   • All text and formatting is to be identical to that of the corresponding TRA form. Print size limits for the body of forms are maximum 14 point and minimum 6 point;
   • Keypunched fields are to be identified by a black dot as positioned on the TRA form. If the large dot (i.e. "bullet") is not available, a different symbol may be used, preferably an asterisk or solid square; and
   • Data field character separation lines may be omitted to facilitate variable information generation, providing data supplied is in the specified format.

COMPUTER-GENERATED FORMS

7. In order that computer-generated forms contain all the essential data and provide for ease of processing by TRA, the following standards apply in addition to the common standards described in paragraph 5:
   
   
   • The order and layout of all information data, fields and field identifiers must conform as closely as possible to that on the prescribed form;
   • The form name must appear in upper case at the top right of each page, clearly segregated from the data that follow;
   • A reasonable vertical spacing must be provided between successive data fields to accommodate possible TRA processing notations;
   • Where a schedule has more than one defined area (e.g. more than one "Area A"), the specific occurrence number and the total number of areas must be printed as a header preceding the area (e.g. "No. 2 of 4 Area A's" would print as a header to the second occurrence of Area A);
   • All keypunched data fields are to be prominently identified by an asterisk in place of the dot used on TRA forms, and the value area is to be underlined. The asterisk, data field numbers and underline must be bold-faced;
   • Non-keypunched data fields are to be underlined but not using a bold line;
     
     
   • Fields on the AT1 return and schedules requiring "YES" or "NO" responses and where the keypunch dot appears inside the "YES" box are to be generated as follows:
     • if response is "YES", then *(100) YES
     • if response is "NO", then (100) NO

     NOTE: This does not include fields 50, 51 and 52 on the AT1 return. These fields follow the standards for keypunch data fields as described above; and

   • In situations where space is restricted, the introductory text may be deleted and field description text may be abbreviated, provided the field meaning is retained.

SUBMISSION OF SAMPLES FOR APPROVAL

8. Samples of all prescribed TRA forms, as well as authorized laser facsimile and computer-generated versions of the AT1 return and schedules and the AT60 application form, are available from TRA on request.
   
   
9. All firms and individuals that develop laser facsimile and computer-generated versions of TRA prescribed forms must submit two samples of each of the forms to TRA for review and approval prior to their finalization. One sample containing variable "test" data and one sample without input data are required. TRA will register all firms and individuals that submit forms for approval and undertake to keep them apprised of any changes to existing forms and of the introduction of new forms. Where revisions are made to forms previously approved, samples of the revised versions must also be submitted for review and approval.
   
   
10. Tax-preparers should ensure that any forms software package acquired to produce forms for submission to TRA meets all the standards set out in this Circular.
    
    
11. Submissions of form samples for approval, requests for sample packages or any enquiries regarding the preceding requirements should be directed to TRA.