Form 8596 

(Rev. January 2024) 

Internal Revenue Service 

Department of the Treasury 

Information Return for Federal Contracts 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 13 Contract modification number 

General Instructions 

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 Due Date 

January, February, March April 30 

April, May, June July 31 

July, August, September October 31 

October, November, December January 31 

If the regular due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal 

holiday, file by the next business day.

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

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.

Cat. No. 12306H www.irs.gov/Form8596 Form 8596 (Rev. 1-2024) 
Form 8596 (Rev. 1-2024) Page 2 

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. 

11. Contract with a state or local 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. 

Form 8596 (Rev. 1-2024)