Rev. Proc. 56-39

SECTION 1. PURPOSE

The purpose of this Revenue Procedure is to restate the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service relating to the preparation of acceptable reproductions of Federal tax return forms and schedules for filing purposes in lieu of the official forms and schedules.

SEC. 2. SPECIFICATIONS

Subject to the conditions enumerated in section 3 below, the Service will accept, for filing purposes, reproduced copies of any of the following tax return 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).

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 Carrybacks, Form 1138.

Application for Tentative Carryback Adjustment, Form 1139.

SEC. 3, CONDITIONS.

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

.02 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.

.03 Insofar as possible, reproductions must duplicate the colors of the official form. However, if colored stock is not reasonably available, approved black and white reproductions received prior to July 1, 1957, will be accepted. Reproductions submitted on and after that date, however, must substantially duplicate the colors of the official form in order to be acceptable.

.04 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 procedure from any process or individual which fails to meet these standards.

.05 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.

.06 Reproductions 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.

SEC. 4 PHYSICAL ASPECTS

The conditions with respect to size, number of printed pages, and color of both paper and ink are as follows:

       Form No.          Trim Size       Tolerances permitted

.01 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.

.02 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.

.03 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 Director of Internal Revenue must be original signatures, affixed subsequent to the reproduction process.

.04 Reproductions of forms and schedules meeting the above conditions may be used without the specific approval of the Internal Revenue Service. However, if specific approval of a reproduction of any of such forms or schedules is desired, or if the use of a reproduction of any form or schedule not listed herein is desired, a sample of the proposed reproduction should be forwarded by letter to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Attention: O:C:PF, Washington 25, D.C., for consideration.

SEC. 6. BLACK AND WHITE PROOFS

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. Requests for reproduction proofs should be addressed to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Attention A:O:P, Washington 25, D.C.

SEC. 7. EFFECT ON OTHER DOCUMENTS

This Revenue Procedure supersedes Revenue Ruling 55-573, C.B. 1955-2, 485. For more specific information with respect to Form 941a, see Rev. Proc. 56-10, C.B. 1956-1, 1026, and Rev. Proc. 56-36, page 1400, of this Bulletin.