When e-filing Form 1095-B and Form 1095-C, data is transmitted in XML format to the IRS. To prevent rejections, it’s important to understand which characters are not allowed in these transmissions.
Prohibited Characters
The IRS will reject any transmission that contains:
-
Double dash (
--) -
Hash key (
#)
For example:
-
Incorrect: North Pinckney Street #240
-
Incorrect: North Pinckney Street — Suite 240
-
Correct: North Pinckney Street 240
Escaped Characters
Certain characters must be escaped before being included in data fields for Forms 1094/1095-B or 1094/1095-C transmissions:
-
&(Ampersand) →& -
'(Apostrophe) →' -
"(Quotation Mark) →" -
<(Less Than) →< -
>(Greater Than) →>
Restrictions in Name Fields
Fields such as PersonFirstNm, PersonMiddleNm, and PersonLastNm cannot contain special characters. For example:
-
O’Malley → Enter as OMALLEY
-
Shepard’s Road, #240 → Enter as Shepards Road, Suite 240
-
A&B Corporation → Enter as AB Corporation
Software Assistance
Our 1095 software automatically checks for prohibited characters and alerts users before generating XML files, ensuring a smooth e-filing process with the IRS.
By following these guidelines, filers can avoid costly rejections and ensure compliance with IRS schema definitions.