Rev. Rul. 55-573

The purpose of this Revenue Ruling is to restate the policy of the Internal Revenue Service relating to acceptance of reproductions of Federal tax return forms and schedules, for filing purposes, in lieu of the official forms and schedules printed by the Government Printing Office and to supersede Revenue Ruling 54-64, C. B. 1954-1, 82.

Subject to the conditions and requirements described below, the Service will accept, for filing purposes, reproductions of any of the following forms and schedules:

U. S. Estate Tax Return, Form 706.

U. S. Gift Tax Return, Form 709.

Gift Tax: Donee's or Trustee's Information Return of Gifts, Form 710.

Life Insurance Statement, Form 712.

Claim, Form 843.

Continuation Sheet for Forms 941, 941VI, or 943--Report Of Wages Taxable Under The Federal Insurance Contributions Act, Form 941a.

U. S. Exempt Cooperative Association Income Tax Return, Form 990-C.

U. S. Return of Employees' Trust Described in Section 401(a) And Exempt Under Section 501(a) Of The Internal Revenue Code of 1954, Form 990-P.

U. S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040.

Profit (or Loss) from Business or Profession, Schedule C (Form 1040).

Gains and Losses from Sales or Exchanges of Property, Schedule D (Form 1040).

U. S. Departing Alien Income Tax Return, Form 1040C.

Declaration of Estimated Tax, Form 1040-ES.

Schedule of Farm Income and Expenses, Schedule F (Form 1040).

U. S. Fiduciary Income Tax Return, Form 1041.

U. S. Partnership Return of Income, Form 1065.

Statement in Support of Credit Claimed by Domestic Corporation for Taxes Paid or Accrued to a Foreign Country or a Possession of the United States, Form 1118.

U. S. Corporation Income Tax Return, Form 1120.

Schedule of Gains and Losses from Sales or Exchanges of Property, Schedule D (Form 1120).

Computation of U. S. Corporation Excess Profits Tax, Schedule EP (Form 1120).

Return of Information and Authorization and Consent of Subsidiary Corporation Included in a United States Consolidated Income Tax Return, Form 1122.

Statement for the Purpose of Extending Time for Payment of Taxes By Corporations Expecting Carry-Backs, Form 1138.

Application for Tentative Carry-Back Adjustment, Form 1139.

In order to be acceptable for filing purposes, reproductions of such forms must meet the following conditions and requirements:

1. Reproductions must be facsimiles of the complete official form, produced by photo-offset, photoengraving, photocopying, or other similar reproduction process.

2. Reproductions must be on paper of substantially the same weight and texture, and of quality at least as good as that used in the official form.

3. Insofar as possible, reproductions must duplicate the colors of the official form. However, black and white reproductions will be accepted when color is not reasonably available.

4. Reproductions must have a high standard of legibility, both as to original form and as to filled-in matter. The Internal Revenue Service reserves the right to reject any reproductions with poor legibility, and to withdraw the benefits of this ruling from any process or individual which fails to meet these standards.

5. Reproductions must be of the same size as that of the official form, both as to the overall dimensions of the paper and the image reproduced thereon.

6. Reproduction of page 3 of Schedule C (Form 1040) must be on properly perforated paper of substantially the same weight and texture as that used in the official form.

The Internal Revenue Service does not undertake to approve or disapprove the specific equipment or process used in reproducing official forms, but requires only that the reproduced forms satisfy the stated conditions.

While it is preferred that both sides of the paper be used in making reproductions, resulting in the same page arrangement as that of the official form, the Service will not object if only one side of the paper is used, or if the reproduction has a different fold than that provided on the official form.

Reproductions of forms may be made after insertion of the tax-computations and other required information. However, all signatures on forms to be filed with the District of Internal Revenue must be original signatures, affixed subsequent to the reproduction process.

The Internal Revenue Service will, upon application, furnish black and white proofs to be used for intermediate photographic steps in reproducing forms requiring colored ink