The Demonstration version allows you to enter or import real data to see the changes we’ve made for 2014 and become familiar with many of the new features offered in our 8966 Pro product.  Right away you'll see that while easy to use, 8966 Pro contains sophisticated features to help you complete your electronic filing of informational returns quickly, efficiently & painlessly.    Technical Support is complimentary whether you have the 'Demo' or a registered copy.

The Demo may be converted with all of your data into a registered copy by calling toll free (888) 776-1099 or via the web at https://www.1099pro.com/prod-FATCA-8966-Software.asp   Single-User and Multi-User Versions are available.   Great software is only part of the solution.   Additionally, 1099 Pro stands ready to help you whether you have a Technical Support Question, a need for Printing/Mailing/Filing services, Web Presentment of forms, envelopes & laser-perforated paper, or our simple to use 1099 and W-2 Pro products.

8966 Pro Product Features

• 8966 Pro features an easy to use wizard for creating files for Electronic Filing in the IRS FATCA XML format V1.1
• Increased field size length for Recipient Name and Address in tax form fields.
• IDES Packager™ to create and encrypt your IDES package (requires .NET 4.0 which comes with Windows 7 & 8), your digital certificate, private key and pass phrase.
• Expanded Name to 180 characters which will accommodate Financial Institution name and remember where you have a first name (account holder ...)  you should fill it in separately as this is a requirement, first name field accommodates 180 characters.
• We've expanded the address field to use AddressFree so you have 180 characters for the address but we still need the City / State or Province / Zip or Postal & ISO country name for the Address Fixed portion..
• A built in PDF driver allows for the user to create forms & reports in a PDF format. Users have the option of encrypting their PDFs.
• Business Rules to flag certain errors as OK, Warning, Error, or Reject where you determine the specific error level.
• Sample XLS Excel import files for Pooled, Not Pooled and Pooled and Not Pooled.  Note the 2nd tab on the files has Import notes.
• Database file encryption to help protect your sensitive tax information.
• A built in PDF driver allows for the user to create forms & reports in a PDF format. Users have the option of encrypting their PDFs.
• Both single user and multi-user network versions are available.
• IRS, FATCA and IDES documentation under IRS Forms & Pubs
• Complimentary Technical Support.
• "Roll forward" Filer, Recipient, Transmitter, Import Maps, and Security information from 8966 Pro® for the upcomingTax Year.
• Web Update is included to make it easy to keep your version up to date.
• Preview detailed, easy-to-read reports on your screen, then print a single page, range of pages, or the entire report.
• Query wizard allows you to easily limit views, reports, and print runs to just the items you specify.
• Flexible Import wizards help import most common delimited ASCII data formats as well as Excel formats.
• Built-in backup utility saves your data to standard zip files.  (Single user install only)
• Handles Amended forms (Corrections) at a date TBD.
• Context Sensitive Help is always just an F1 key press away.

8966 Release Notes   (March 4,2015)

8966 is simple to use (see below)  Just 1) create your Filers or Financial Intermediaries, 2) Import your data, 3 Create your XML and then launch the IDES Packager to encrypt your XML with your digital cert & private pass phrase.

Note to accommodate the XML spec 8966 has Name and Address fields that accommodate up to 180 characters.   The IRS allows you to use the “/” to delimit the Address.   Note that you must still import the City, State/Province, Zip/Postal and ISO country where applicable.    This and other import notes are on the Excel sample import files on the 2^nd Tab found under the Import folder.

In DEMO mode users can create FI’s & import.  To activate the software to create & package the XML an Authorization code is required. Pricing in US Dollars is $799 Single User, 1199 Multi 2-5 user, 1599 Multi User for unlimited users.  Standard volume is for up to 5000 records.  Additional records are $100 / 1000 records.  

Important:  Each installation requires a unique authorization code in the XML so you will need to purchase your unique codes when filing (don’t give out your code to another installation!) as usage of this code will really put you in a bind with the IDES website.   As Per Pub 5124 FATCA XML v1.1:  the MessageRefID s data element is a free text field capturing the sender’s unique identifying number (created by the sender) that identifies the particular message being sent. The identifier allows both the sender and receiver to identify the specific message later if questions arise.  This is true for corrections so be sure that every physical location generating XML files has their own Authorization Code from 1099 Pro, Inc.

Other improvements will be forthcoming including such as printing an 8966 form and additional reports.  For your reference the latest guidance from the IRS as of March 2, 2015 is reproduced below.

8966 Import Hints   

Sample Import Files are created during the installation typically located at C:\1099 Pro\ProFAT14\Import\Samples\XLS Samples   If you use our “Headers” (the column titles found in our sample files) as the first row in your Excel file then the software will understand how to match your data to the form.  For example if you have a column with the name of the person or entity which is the account holder you should use our header “Rcp Last Name/Compny” above your column.   Note the order of your columns doesn’t matter as long as you fill in the correct column header.  Also use only the column headers that you need.  For example if you are not doing Pooled Reporting then you don’t need those columns.   Be sure to have your first row as Headers and only data after that with no blank rows in between.  Other import hints:

 The first tab of the Excel Sample imports is color coded.  The Color Coding below corresponds to the 8966 FATCA Report sections/parts.  See See:  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-access/f8966_accessible.pdf

Import Notes

• If you were working on your file in Excel be sure to close Excel completely or your import will FAIL

• • Excel Maps can be used to import Tab or CSV files as well.

• Only the first Tab/Worksheet will be imported. Additional Tabs are ignored when imported.

• Name Fields - You should always populate the “Rcp Last Name/Compny” and similar name fields when bringing name & address data or the import will FAIL

• • Note first name fields hold up to 40 characters and should be filled in for people but can be blank for organizations.

• Name & Address fields will accept up to 180 characters. You can use “/” as a delimiter in Address fields.

• Addresses - you must always fill in the City, the State/Province (10 characters) and the Zip/Postal fields (9 characters)

• If an address is foreign put an 'O' for Other in the field "Rcp Address Type", "C" can be used for Canada, otherwise leave the field blank.

• When using the 'O' above put a country Name in the corresponding field. For example Switzerland in "Rcp Country Name". Use the ISO country list.

• For Foreign Addresses where “O” is in the Address Type indicating Other/Foreign:

• • City/Prov/Area has 39 characters and the import fields for City & Province are merged together upon import.

• • Postal has 10 characters
    
    

8966 Guidance from the IRS   (March 3, 2015)

1.  New! FATCA IDES Gateway Opens

Large Business & International announces the opening of the International Data Exchange Service (IDES) Gateway. Financial institutions and host country tax authorities began IDES enrollment in January 2015. All IDES enrollees may use the IDES Gateway to securely send Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) information reports on financial accounts held by U.S. persons. IDES will operate on all major browsers, such as Chrome and Internet Explorer, and will support application-to-application exchanges through SFTP transmission protocols. Data transmitted via IDES will be encrypted at both the file and transmission level to safeguard sensitive tax information. 

The online address for IDES enrollment and a link to IDES Gateway can be found on the IDES enrollment site, and the IDES User Guide with instructions for enrolling and using IDES can be found on the IDES home page.  To complete IDES enrollment, financial institutions will need to have registered as a participating financial institution through the IRS FATCA Registration System and have a global intermediary identification number (GIIN) that appears on the current IRS FATCA Foreign Financial Institution list. 

Financial institutions and host country tax authorities are encouraged to complete the enrollment process and initiate transmission before the Form 8966 reporting deadline. An automatic 90-day extension of time to file Form 8966 may be requested. For calendar year 2014 only an automatic 90-day extension of time to file Form 8966 will be provided to all filers (including those filing electronically), without the need to file any form or take any action. For more information, review the 2014 Instructions for Form 8966.

If you need help or have questions about IDES enrollment, transmission or system alerts, please contact IDES Customer Support at 1-800-613-IDES (4773) or by email at helpdesk@ides-support.com. IDES Customer Support is available 24 hours a day except on U.S. federal holidays. If you need additional information about data preparation or other aspects of FATCA reporting please visit the IRS FATCA website.

8966 Pro System Requirements

- Windows 7, 8 or higher.    .NET 4.0 or higher is required for the IDES Packager
- 32 or 64 bit operating system compatible
- Intel Pentium II/Celeron or AMD Athlon/Sempron/Turion (Minimum)
- 512 MB RAM or higher
- 120+MB free hard drive space
- For use with ANY Windows compatible printer
- Windows compatible network (optional)