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Internal Revenue Bulletin:  2008-42 

October 20, 2008 

Announcement 2008-95

Update to Publication 1187, Specifications for Filing Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding, Electronically, Revised August 2008


This announcement supersedes Announcement 2008-19 and contains corrections and clarifying information to Publication 1187, Specifications for Filing Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding, Electronically, revised August 2008. Continue to use this Publication along with the changes listed below for your Tax Year 2008 filing. The following changes are effective for Tax Year 2008 forms filed in calendar year 2009.

Part A Changes:

  • All communication via telephone to the Customer Service Section is Toll-Free 1-866-455-7438. This corrects a typographical error found in Part A, Section 3 .09 found on page 3 of Publication 1187.

  • Section 8 .09. Apply the following formula to determine Total Withholding Credit (field positions 383-394 of the “Q” Record).
    All field positions described below are in the “Q” Record.

  Income Codes (15-19) Gross Income Paid (6-17) - Withholding Allowance (18-29) = Net Income Amount (30-41)X Tax Rate (42-45) = Total Withholding Credit (383-394) All other Income Codes Gross Income Paid (6-17) X Tax Rate (42-45)= Total Withholding Credit (383-394)  

Part B Changes:

  • Section 4 .03 should read: If you are considering sending files larger than 899,999 records, please contact IRS/ECC-MTB for specifics.

  • Section 8 .01 Format Error number 9, should read: The Total Gross Income and Total Withholding Credit in the “Q” Record must equal the Total Gross Income and Total Withholding Credit reported in the corresponding “C” Record.

Part C Changes:

  • Recipient “Q” Record positions 359-370: Remove the Note: If the U.S. tax withheld was either under or over reported, see field positions 761 of the Q Record.

  • Recipient “Q” Record, Total Withholding Credit, field positions 383-394, add the Note: If the Total Withholding Credit, (aggregate amounts of U.S. Tax Withheld and Withholding By Other Agents) was either under or over reported, see field position 761 of the Q Record”.

  • Recipient “Q” Record, U.S. Tax Withheld Indicator, position 761: Change note to read: Please refer to Total Withholding Credit positions 383-394.

  • Recipient “Q” Record, Recipient’s Foreign Tax I.D. Number, field positions 762-783 enter the number exactly as the recipient provides on their documentation. Alpha, numeric and/or other special characters are acceptable.

  • Section 4 .01 should read: The “C” record is a summary of the number of “Q” Records for each Withholding Agent, Gross Amount Paid, and Total Withholding Credit.

  • In the Reconciliation “C” Record, Total U.S. Tax Withheld, field position 31-45, should be titled Total Withholding Credit. Description and Remarks should read: Enter the total aggregate amount of tax withheld by you and any other withholding agent. This is the aggregate total amounts from the fields U.S. Tax Withheld and Withholding By Other Agents. Enter the amount in whole dollars (do not enter cents). Right-justify and zero fill.

Part D Changes:

  • The record length of all records has increased to 820 positions. This corrects a typographical error found at the end of Part D, in a graphic record layout found on page 49 of Publication 1187.

If you have questions concerning the filing of Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding, please contact the Internal Revenue Service ECC-MTB toll-free at 866-455-7438.


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