Release 1681 is the annual 'W-2' release, but its scope is broader than
usual this year.  Ordinarily it would modify only tax reporting code in the
area of PPP600.   This year, however, the IRS has mandated that tip income
be reported in the W-2 data file, but PPS does not now carry that
information, so a new field, YTD Tip Income (data element 5556), is being
added to the PCM table in the EDB in which to store it.  It must be entered
manually.  As is the case any time a new data element is added, a great
deal of utility support code must be modified.  Some of it was just
modified for r1676 (online earnings statements, phase 2).  Due to the
nature of the tip field, r1681 also includes code to:   (see release
documents for more detail)

- edit Tip Income
- carry it through the compute process
- list it in tax reports (PPP610 as well as PPP600)

Additionally r1681 modifies the CPWSXTRC tax reporting constants copymember
based on events of the last year.  It adds new GTN numbers:
- for FITSCo/Master Record Keeper
- for the new Senior Management contributions

Listed below are some miscellaneous changes:
- Allow more than one 'other state' to be printed on the W-2 form
- Shorten the IRS PIN field in CPWSXTRC
- Update country codes in CPWSXTRC
- Add YTD Tip Income and regular OASDI Gross (total OASDI
   minus Tip Income) to the W-2 data file.

ALERT FOR TECHNICAL STAFF:  This latest addition to the PCM table increases
its length to the point where it exceeds the standard EDB 'unload' record
length of 629.  It must now be increased to at least 639.  Davis's and San
Diego's were already 729 because of added local data elements and therefore
are probably ok as is.

TABLE UPDATES
   Updates to these tables are required:
- data element
- GTN (change transactions only, to assign a set indicator value
   of '7' for SMS contribution GTN's 744 and 747)
- message

The W-2 form does not change this year except for the year number

IMPLEMENTATION
   We are in an extreme time crunch this year due to several factors.  We
did not receive the release until 12/21, and the dates chosen for old year
cleanup computes and tax reporting jobs have been creeping earlier and
earlier each year.  We've just finished December month-end processing, yet
multiple sites have already initiated cleanup computes.  That being the
case, I can not make the usual promise of doing a full volume production
simulation of tax reporting for all sites, though we'll do our best where
possible.  There's also a bit of a 'horse race' in that you can not record
tip income until we've installed the release and defined the new field.  On
the plus side, the W-2 form layout has not changed for 2005, so we don't
need to worry about testing of overlays at campuses.

May we have an ok to install r1681 at your earliest convenience?

   bvb