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SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
BUSINESS TAX
Q. Do I need to submit a "Letter of Intent" to use Delaware forms in our software packages?
A. No, Delaware does not require a "Letter of Intent" from software developers.
Q. What is the approval process for substitute Delaware BT forms?
A. Please view the BT Approval Process page for specifics.
Q. When are draft BT forms and coupons released?
A. Usually from mid-September to early December of each year. Please see our BT Forms Timeline for this year's dates.
Q. How do I tell if a form has changed from last year?
A. A Revision Date is located in the lower, right-hand corner of each form. Since the Revision Date practice was only recently implemented for BT forms, only forms updated in 2005 and after will include Revision Dates.
Q. Do I have to re-submit a form for Design Approval if the form hasn't changed from last year?
A. No. If a form has not changed from the previous year and you have already received Design Approval on this form, then you do not need to re-submit the form for this year's Design Approval. (Please Note: this is different from Test Approval, which does require an annual approval.)
Q. Do my substitute forms for Design Approval have to contain sample taxpayer data?
A. No. Blank forms are preferred.
Q. Can I submit a PDF for Design Approval?
A. Yes, though please make sure it is high-quality (i.e. not scanned).
Q. Why will a form be rejected during the Design Approval process?
A. The most common causes of rejection during the Design Approval process include:
• Fields and checkboxes that are too small or large in height and/or width.
• Lines, checkboxes and fields that lay, sit or hang from other lines and/or are merged together.
• The "Do Not Write or Staple in this Area" boxes are too small.
• Checkboxes are incorrectly labeled or are in the wrong order.
• Content errors; misspellings.
Q. What if a draft form changes after we've received initial Design Approval?
A. We will do our best to notify everyone who has received initial Design Approval that a form has changed. Most often these are minor changes and we only request that you make the change and resubmit your changed copy for our records. We do not require you to receive a second initial approval unless the changes are significant.
Q. How long does the Design Approval process take?
A. From the time we receive your submission in-hand (either via e-mail or mail), we ask that you allow one week for us to approve the form. If you have not heard from us after a week, please call and/or e-mail the appropriate contact on the Contacts for Software Developers page to check the status of your submission.
Q. How does the approval process for Withholding and Corporate Income Tax (CIT) coupons differ from other BT forms?
A. The approval process for Withholding and CIT coupons involves two steps, requiring both a Design Approval and a Test Approval.
Q. What is Test Approval?
A. Test Approval requires any coupon with a scanline to be tested by our processing department, so that we may verify it scans correctly into our machines. Withholding and CIT coupons all require Test Approval.
Test Approval ensures that the coupons contained in your software package will include a correct and readable scanline and will pass through our processing systems.
Q. How many coupons are required for the Test Approval process?
A. Two-to-three coupons per document type. For Withholding, a "document type" includes each month of the 8th-monthlies.
Therefore, for CIT forms we require two-to-three coupons for each T voucher (T1-T4) and each P voucher (P1-P4), Extensions and Request for Change forms (2 will suffice for Request for Change forms).
For Withholding, we require two-to-three coupons for each Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Reconciliation form, and two-to-three coupons for each month of the 8th-monthlies.
Q. Are there any requirements for Test Approval coupons?
A. Test Approval coupons should state the name of the Software Developer somewhere on the form. (Usually software developers put this in the e-mail section of the form.)
The test documents must pass our processing machines, which require you follow very specific specifications. For specs, please visit the Services for Software Developers page of our website.
Q. Do my test documents have to contain sample taxpayer data?
A. As long as the information contained in the scanline is reflected on the form (i.e. the date, account number, voucher number, etc.), the test documents do not need to contain sample taxpayer data like name and address.
Q. Do my coupons have to contain a scanline?
A. Yes. If your software package includes Withholding and or Corporate Income Tax coupons, these returns must include a scanline. You cannot reproduce these forms without a scanline, but you may opt to omit these forms from your software package.
Q. How do I create a scanline?
A. Scanline specs.
Q. Where do I find specs for Withholding forms?
A. Withholding specs.
Q. Where do I find specs for CIT forms?
A. CIT specs.
Q. What about Gross Receipts forms? Where do I find specs for GR forms?
A. At this time the Delaware Division of Revenue does not allow Software Developers to recreate GR forms.
Q. Do software partners have to obtain Test Approval if the coupons we're using have already received it?
A. We will approve this request on an individual basis. Please contact Angela Moffett at (302) 577-8522 or angela.moffett@state.de.us for more information.
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