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§10.3.3

Values Are Verbatim

An entered value—copy it or clean it up?

✅ NormativeSettled. The requirement holds as written.📄 Page ruleCan be applied from the page alone.Read §10.3.3 in the RFC ↗

The requirement

Entered content MUST be transcribed exactly as it appears on the page. A value MUST NOT be rounded, reformatted, computed or summarised.

When it applies

This is Cell Text Fidelity (§9.6.3) applied to what someone wrote into a field.

Printed Output Not
29,513 29,513 29513, 29,513.00
590.50 590.50 590.5
1.0000000000 % 1.0000000000 % 1.0%, 1
-599,459 -599,459 (599,459)
(284,791) (284,791) -284,791

A negative amount MUST keep the form the page printed: a leading minus stays a minus, parentheses stay parentheses. Converting between them is a reformat, and a reformat is how a value stops matching the document it came from.

Reading the examples. Each one pairs a source page with the output the rule expects. ✅ Sample: the rule applies. ❌ Counter-sample: it looks like it applies and does not, or a rendering got it wrong. A non-conforming output, in red, is shown only for contrast. … marks content left out of an excerpt.

The point, in a small example

Follow printed labels and IDs, preserve the exact values, and explicitly represent the empty field. These pages are made up to isolate the rule.

01

✅ SampleConstructedThe rule applies

Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit

These are labeled fill-in fields, not a table. Keep leading zeros and the ambiguous date exactly as printed; do not infer a currency or expand the date. The third answer line is empty.

Source page
Values Are Verbatim — Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit. Source page.
Non-conforming output

What the rule rules out.

Markdown
- **Amount:** $12.50
- **Date:** March 4, 2026
Expected output
Markdown
- \[1\] **Amount:** 0012.50
- \[2\] **Date:** 03/04/26
- \[3\] **Reference:** [blank]
Values Are Verbatim · Source page

Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit

Values Are Verbatim — Keep values verbatim and blank fields explicit. Source page.

Identifiers are not normalised either

An entered SSN, TIN, policy number or account number MUST be transcribed exactly as printed. It MUST NOT be rewritten to a canonical mask such as XXX-XX-XXXX or re-grouped to a standard shape.

This holds however the form splits the digits. A social security number printed across three boxed groups is the printed digits, in the grouping the page uses:

- \[E\] **Partner's SSN or TIN**: 27-4162256

Normalising an identifier looks harmless because the canonical form is more readable. It is the same failure as rounding a number: the output stops matching the document, and a reader verifying a value against the page finds a string that is not on it. A consumer that needs a canonical form can derive one; it cannot recover the printed one.

Split dollar and cent columns

A form that prints dollars and cents in two ruled columns holds one value. It MUST be rendered as one value — 1,234.00 — and MUST NOT be split across two fields. The rule lines are typesetting, not structure.

More

Rule id forms-values-are-verbatim · forms fidelity