Federal Information Return for Federal Contracts

Information Return for Federal Contracts
Form 8596 (Rev. January 2024)
Form

8596

Information Return for Federal Contracts

(Rev. January 2024)
Internal Revenue Service
Department of the Treasury

Submit with
Form 8596-A.

1 Name and address of contractor

2 Contractor’s taxpayer identification number

3 Name of common parent, if applicable

4 Common parent’s employer identification number, if applicable

5 Name of federal executive agency

6 Federal executive agency’s employer identification number

7 Date of contract action

8 Expected date of contract completion

9 Total amount obligated under the contract

$
10 Contract number

11 Agency code

12 Contract office number

General Instructions

Where to file. File Forms 8596 and 8596-A with:
Internal Revenue Service
ATTN: 8596
Enterprise Computing Center at Martinsburg (IRS/ECC-MTB)
230 Murall Drive, P.O. Box 1359
Kearneysville, WV 25430

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.
Future developments. For the latest information about
developments related to Form 8596 and its instructions, such as
legislation enacted after they were published, go to
www.irs.gov/Form8596.
Purpose of form. Section 6050M and Regulations section
1.6050M-1 require certain federal executive agencies to file a
return to report information about persons with whom they
have entered into contracts. If you are not filing electronically
and you have not made the Federal Procurement Data Center
(FPDC) election, explained later, use Forms 8596 and 8596-A,
Quarterly Transmittal of Information Returns for Federal
Contracts, to furnish the required information.
How to file. You may be required to electronically file (e-file)
Form 8596 about reportable contracts for each quarter of the
1-year period. For information on filing electronically, see Pub.
1516, Specifications for Filing Form 8596, Information Return for
Federal Contracts, Electronically. Go to www.irs.gov/InfoReturn
for e-file options. Also, see part F in the current General
Instructions for Certain Information Returns. You may file paper
Forms 8596 and 8596-A if you expect to enter into fewer than
10 reportable contracts during a 1-year period.

TIP

The IRS encourages you to file electronically.

When to file. You must file Forms 8596 quarterly. The due
dates for each quarter are shown below. Do not file before the
end of the quarter.
Quarter
January, February, March
April, May, June
July, August, September
October, November, December

Due Date
April 30
July 31
October 31
January 31

If the regular due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal
holiday, file by the next business day.
Cat. No. 12306H

13 Contract modification number

Who must file. The head of every federal executive agency or
their delegate must file Forms 8596 and 8596-A to report federal
contracts.
Federal executive agency. A federal executive agency is (a)
any executive agency, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, other than the
Government Accountability Office; (b) any military department,
as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102; and (c) the United States Postal
Service and the Postal Rate Commission.
Special rules. If a subcontract is entered into by the Small
Business Administration (SBA) under a prime contract between
the SBA and a procuring agency under section 8(a) of the Small
Business Act, the procuring agency, not the SBA, must file
Forms 8596 and 8596-A.
A Federal Supply Schedule Contract or an Automated Data
Processing Schedule Contract entered into by the General
Services Administration (GSA), or a schedule contract entered
into by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on behalf of one
or more federal executive agencies, is not to be reported by the
GSA or the VA at the time of execution. Rather, when a federal
executive agency, including the GSA or the VA, places an order
under a schedule contract, then the federal executive agency
must file Forms 8596 and 8596-A.
FPDC election. In complying with the requirements of the
Federal Procurement Data System, if you are required to submit
to the FPDC the same contract information that is required by
Forms 8596 and 8596-A, you may elect to have the FPDC file
Forms 8596 and 8596-A on your behalf for contracts required to
be reported to the FPDC. If you make the election, your agency
must not file directly with the IRS to report those contracts
required to be submitted to the FPDC. However, you must file
with the IRS for any contracts that are required to be reported
to the IRS but are not required to be submitted to the FPDC.

www.irs.gov/Form8596

Form 8596 (Rev. 1-2024)

Page 2

Form 8596 (Rev. 1-2024)

To make this election, attach to your FPDC submission for
the quarter a signed statement that (a) the Director of the FPDC
(or their delegate) is authorized, in accordance with an election
made under 26 CFR 1.6050M-1(d)(5), on the agency’s behalf, to
make the required returns for that quarter; and (b) under
penalties of perjury, you have examined the information to be
submitted by your agency to the FPDC for use in making those
returns and it is certified to be, to the best of your knowledge
and belief, a compilation of agency records maintained in the
normal course of business for the purpose of providing the
information necessary for making true, correct, and complete
returns as required by section 6050M.
Contract. A contract is an obligation of a federal executive
agency to pay money or other property to a person in return for
the sale of property, the rendering of services, or other
consideration. A contract includes a written agreement
between the agency and the contractor, an award or notice of
award, a job order or task letter issued under a basic ordering
agreement, a letter contract, an order that is effective only on
written acceptance or performance, or certain increases in the
amount obligated.
Increases in contracts. If the amount obligated under a
contract is increased by more than $25,000 in one contract
action through the exercise of an option contained in the
original contract or under any other contract law rule, then that
action is treated as a new contract and must be reported on
Form 8596 for the quarter in which the increase occurs.
Exceptions. You need not file Forms 8596 and 8596-A for any:
1. Contract for $25,000 or less.
2. Contract that provides for all payments to be made within
120 days following the date of the contract action if it is
reasonable to expect that all amounts will be paid.
3. License granted by a federal executive agency.
4. Obligation of a contractor (other than a federal executive
agency) to a subcontractor.
5. Debt instrument of the U.S. Government or a federal
agency, such as a Treasury note, Treasury bond, Treasury bill,
U.S. Savings Bond, or similar instrument.
6. Obligation of a federal executive agency to lend money,
lease property to someone, or sell property.
7. Blanket purchase agreement. However, when an order is
placed under a blanket purchase agreement, then a contract
exists and Forms 8596 and 8596-A must be filed.
8. Contract with a contractor who, in making the agreement,
is acting in their capacity as an employee of a federal executive
agency; for example, any employment contract under which the
employee is paid wages subject to federal income tax
withholding.
9. Contract between a federal executive agency and another
federal government unit, or any subsidiary agency.
10. Contract with a foreign government or agency or any
subsidiary agency.

12. Contract with a person who is not required to have a
taxpayer identification number, such as a nonresident alien,
foreign corporation, or foreign partnership any of which does
not have income effectively connected with the conduct of a
trade or business in the United States and does not have an
office or place of business or a fiscal or paying agent in the
United States.
13. Confidential or classified contracts that meet the
requirements of section 6050M(e).
14. Contract that provides that all payments made after the
120th day after the date of the contract action will be made by
someone other than a federal executive agency or its agent; for
example, a contract under which the contractor will collect
amounts owed to a federal executive agency from the agency’s
debtor and will remit to the agency the money collected minus
an amount for the contractor’s consideration under the contract.
15. Contract entered into using nonappropriated funds.

Specific Instructions
Box 1. Enter the full name and address of the contractor. If the
contractor is a sole proprietor, enter the name of the sole
proprietor first, then the business name (if any).
Box 2. Enter the contractor’s taxpayer identification number
(TIN). For an individual, including a sole proprietor, the TIN is
the social security number. For all others, the TIN is the
employer identification number (EIN).
Box 3. If the contractor is a member of an affiliated group of
corporations that files its federal income tax returns on a
consolidated basis, enter the name of the common parent of
the affiliated group.
Box 4. If the name of the common parent is entered in box 3,
enter the EIN of the common parent.
Boxes 5 and 6. Enter the name and EIN of the federal
executive agency that entered into the contract. If one central
office is responsible for filing for the entire agency, use only one
name and EIN when filing Forms 8596 and 8596-A.
Box 7. Enter the date of the contract action. If you are
reporting an increase in the amount obligated under a contract,
enter the date of such increase, not the original contract date.
Box 8. Enter the expected date of completion of the contract.
To determine this date, use any reasonable method, such as the
expected contract delivery date under the contract schedule.
Box 9. Enter the total amount obligated to the contractor under
the terms of the contract.
If you are reporting an increase in the amount obligated
under a contract, enter only the amount of the increase.
Boxes 10, 11, 12, and 13. Enter the contract number, agency
code, contract office number, and contract modification
number, if available. These numbers will help identify the
contract if the IRS requests a levy.

11. Contract with a state or local government or agency or
any subsidiary agency.
Form 8596 (Rev. 1-2024)