2018 UltraTax CS
New (tax) year, new help!
Fixed Assets and UltraTax CS 2023 help is now on Help and Support. We're still moving articles, but you can find most content for the 2023 tax year there. Continue using the Help & How-To Center for tax years 2022 and older.
UltraTax CS enables you to enter as much information as will print in the fields on the federal corporation income tax forms. However, the IRS allows only a certain number of characters in the fields of an electronically filed return. In some cases, the maximum number of characters you can enter in an UltraTax CS field is more than the maximum number of characters the IRS allows for that field in an electronically filed return. If you enter too many characters in a field, UltraTax CS truncates the text as necessary in the electronic file.
The following table lists the fields that are affected by this difference in field size, the screens in which those fields appear, the number of characters UltraTax CS allows, the number of characters the IRS allows, and the destination of the information on the form. Input screen fields are listed first, followed by noncalculating forms (if applicable).
If you are filing an electronic return for a client, make sure the number of characters in the fields listed in the table that follows does not exceed the number of characters listed in the # of char in ELF column. If any of these fields exceeds the maximum number of characters allowed by the IRS, UltraTax CS automatically limits the information in that field within the electronic file.
| Screen ID or location | Field(s) | # of char in UT CS | # of char in ELF | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup > System Configuration > Firm tab | Firm address | 40 | 35 | Paid Preparer Use Only signature section on Form 1120 / 1120-F / 1120S, Page 1 |
| D | Short-term capital gains: Description of property (in statement dialog) | 57 | 100 | Form 8949, line 1 description |
| D | Long-term capital gains: Description of property (in statement dialog) | 57 | 100 | Form 8949 line 3 description |
| Sale or Asset tab | Description | 45 | 20 | Form 4797, lines 2a and 10 |
| Sale or Asset tab | Description | 45 | 40 | Form 4797, line 19a |
| 3115 | Description of other type of change and citation of IRS guidance | Unlimited | 100 | Form 3115, Part I, line 1b |
| 4562 or Asset tab | Business or activity name | 35 | 40 | Form 4562, Page 1 |
| 4562 or Asset tab | Section 179 property detail: Description of property (in statement dialog) | 34 | 100 | Form 4562, line 6a |
| 4562 or Asset tab | Listed property detail: Description of property (in statement dialog) | 45 | 20 | Form 4562, lines 26a and 27a |
| 4562 or Asset tab | Amortized property detail: Description of property (in statement dialog) | 45 | 20 | Form 4562, line 42a |
| 970-2 | Describe method of determining the cost of inventory items | Unlimited | 100 | Only the first 100 characters are included in the electronic file. |
| Form 8611 (a non-calculating form) | Building Identification Number | 11 | 9 | Form 8611, line D. (The Electronic Filing utility removes dashes, hyphens, and spaces.) |
| ShpAir | Applicable authority of the equivalent exemption type | Unlimited | 100 | Schedule S (Form 1120-F), Part I, line 1c |
| ShpAir | Period during the tax year that stock was held by qualified shareholders | Unlimited | 100 | Schedule S (Form 1120-F), Part IV, line 17c |
Was this article helpful?
Thank you for the feedback!