Financial Data Exchange launches FDX API 4.2

In addition to continuing to provide the financial industry with a common, interoperable and royalty-free standard for all user-permissioned financial data sharing, the FDX API now encompasses 51 different IRS forms and statements. The FDX API paves the way for transition from current disparate tax formats, Open Financial Exchange (OFX) and Tax Exchange Format (TXF), as well as other often used proprietary formats like PDF and CSV. These changes to the FDX API make tax preparation and reporting more efficient and secure. Other updates contained in FDX API 4.2 include the separation of the banking and tax specification for easier readability and the addition of annuity accounts to the API.

The announcement of FDX API 4.2 puts in place a single standard data structure for exporting and importing almost all tax accounting data in the US that does not require the sharing of login credentials. Before the advent of FDX 4.2, tax information has been split between a patchwork of different standards like OFX, TXF, PDF, and CSV. FDX API 4.2 will enable a secure data sharing standard for interactions between tax software applications and companies that operate tax form data servers, such as payroll companies, banks, and brokerage firms. Further, all FDX data structures are readily generated and consumed using the ubiquitous JSON data serialization technology. 

In addition to the FDX API standard’s existing support for an array of tax forms and statements, the new version of the FDX API now fully supports all types of business, royalty, farm, and rental income tax information. 

FDX 4.2 will also provide US tax reporting data in a human-readable text format for the first time so that it can be used for file importing and exporting with tax return preparation software. In addition, this same format allows QR codes to be added to annual tax documents so that smart phone apps using open QR code technology can be used by all tax filers.