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Source Formating for Form 1042-S: A Record

Form 1042-S A Record Source Format

Generally if the Withholding Agent fails to withhold, they are personally liable for the 30% tax plus any penalties and interest.

A "Withholding Agent" is any person or other entity that has control, receipt, or custody of the money subject to withholding, or who can disburse or make payments.
Generally, the US person who pays (or causes to be paid) US source income to a foreign person must withhold 30 percent.

The Withholding Agent is similar to the "Filer, Payer, or Company" under the 1099 series forms.

A 1042 Express A Record (Withholding Agent) source record for Form 1042-S looks like this:

A|$|0|0|74-3492344|0|ABC Corporation|||P. O. Box 477||Austin|TX|NT|CA|Canada|75Q344|2006|512-344-1234|0|John Doe|Acct|512-344-1235|John.Doe@stx.rr.com

  • Field 1: Capital "A", This is the Record Identifier. Converted to "W" record in IRS File.

  • Field 2: Capital "$", Identifies the type of form as 1042-S.

  • Field 3: Return Type Indicator: or AMENDED BOX of the Form:
  • In Source File: 0=Original, 1=Amended. Mutually Exclusive Radio Buttons.

  • In IRS File:  0=Original, 1=Amended. Must be the same in the "B" Record.

  • This value is copied to every IRS Q Record (Brecord).

  • Field 4: Pro Rata Basis Reporting: A Binary Checkbox.
  • In Source:  0=Not, 1= Yes, Pro Rata.

  • In IRS File:  0=Not, 1=Yes, Pro Rata. 

  • Field 5: Box 9a Withholding Agent's EIN. Required. Max 15, reduced to 9 in e-File. .

  • Field 6: Box 9b Agent's EIN Type: 0=EIN, 1=QI-EIN, WP-EIN, WT-EIN, 2=NQI-EIN, An EIN Type is Required in source record. Mutually exclusive radio buttons.

  • Field 7: Box 10a1 Agent's Name line 1 as shown on EIN application, max 40.

  • Field 8: Box 10a2 Name2 line for trade, stage, aliases, titles, care of, via, dba, etc., max 40. Printed on mailing labels only.

  • Field 9: Box 10a3 Name line3, more for above, max 40, Disabled, not used for now.

  • Field 10: Box 10b Agent's Street Addr line 1, for address, street, apt, etc., max 40.

  • Field 11: Box 10c Agent's Street Addr2 line, more for above, max 40.

  • Field 12: Box 10d1 Agent's City, max 40.

  • Field 13: Box 10d3 Agent's US State Code, 2 chars from list box table. Field 15 must be empty.

  • Field 14: Box 10d2 Agent's Canadian Province Code.

  • Field 15: Box 10d4 Agent's Country Code from list box table. Field 13 must be empty. Do not spell out country name.

  • Field 16: Box 14d5 Agent's Country Name. Not part of IRS file. For mailing purposes.

  • Field 17: Box 10e Agent's postal or zip code.

  • Field 18: Tax Year, 4 digits. This is printed on the forms and copied to the T record in the IRS file. Unlike 1099 IRS Files, the tax year is present
    in only in the T record and A Record (W Record) in 1042-S IRS Files. The tax year is not present in the Q Records.

  • Field 19: Phone Number and extension, max 20.

  • Field 20: A Checkbox: Final Return Indicator, 0=will be filing in future, 1=will not be filing. Must be 0 or 1 in source.

**Note that Fields 21 thru 24 are not part of the IRS "W" record, but may be printed on the 1042-T form.**
  • Field 21: Contact Name.

  • Field 22: Contact Title.

  • Field 23: Contact Fax number.

  • Field 24: Contact E-Mail address.

  • Field 25: Filer's Withholding Indicator 0=Chapter 3, 1= Chapter 4.

  • Field 26: Filer's GIIN (Global Intermediary ID Number).

  • Field 27: Filer's Chapter 3 Status code.

  • Field 28: Filer's Chapter 4 Status code.

  • Field 29: Foreign Tax ID Number.

  • Field 30: A CheckBox under the "Special" tab of the Options Filer/Company/Withholding Agent Window. See Notes below:

  • Notes on Field 30: New in Tax Year 2020. Check this box if the Withholding Agent (the Filer) is a partnership that is reporting withholding which
    occurred in a subsequent year under regulation sections 1.1441-5, otherwise leave un-checked.

  • See Publication 1187, "W" Record position 833, a new field is 2020.

*Notes on Field3 and Field4: From the 1042-T instructions, there are 6 possible types of 1042-S that may be transmitted. They are Original, Voided, Corrected, Original pro-rata,
Voided pro-rata, and Corrected pro-rata. The voided type is gone in 2008 and after. Field3 is either Original=0 or Amended=1. Amended means the same thing as Corrected in 1099 lingo.

*Thus, each "B" source record (and IRS "Q" record) must have the same Return Type and Pro-Rata fields as the source "A" record (IRS "W" record). This is a true statement, even after 2009.

*Thus, all B records must contain the same types as the A Record. Thus, Field3 and 4 are copied from the A record to all B records in the file.
A multiple build may contain different types but must be the same for each A record. A test file will prove that this works.

*In 2009 position 810 was added to both the W and the Q records for correction codes G and C. See B record for more information.

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