PART 3 - Wage File Upload Data Formats

Unemployment Insurance Employer Handbook (UCB-201-P)
Section 4 - Wage Reporting

Following are specifications for the four data formats that may be used to submit quarterly wage reports on-line using Internet Wage File Upload.

Wisconsin UI Format - Alternative 1
This record format contains the employer UI account number, employee wage record information, and quarter designation in one self-contained 80 byte record per employee.

Federal IRS/SSA Tape Format - Alternative 2
This format is a modified IRS/SSA format. Although the IRS/SSA reporting allows for record types 'A','B','E','W','I','T','F', we will be capturing the necessary Wage Record information exclusively from record types 'E', employer record, and 'S', employee wage, and bypassing all other record types. The 'E' and 'S' record types have been modified to allow for UI information. Each record is 275 bytes in length.

Note: Wages reported to IRS/SSA are different from Wisconsin UI total Gross Wages.

Federal IRS/SSA Diskette Format - Alternative 3
This is a modified IRS/SSA diskette format. We will be capturing wage record information from record types '1E', '2E', '1W', and '2W'. Each record is 128 bytes in length.

Note: Wages reported to IRS/SSA are different from Wisconsin UI Total Gross Wages.

Tab-Delimited Text Format - Alternative 4
This is a tab-delimited text file format that is similar to the WI UI Format. This format allows employers and agents who maintain and submit quarterly wage data using MS Excel to convert an Excel file to a tab-delimited text file that the on-line tax and wage reporting application will accept.

Updated: March 1, 2013

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