I figured it out...

For SQL 2012:

1. The format file needed to start with 11.0.

2. I removed any tabs between the columns in the format file (not sure if this was necessary)

3. I had to add quotes at the end of each line in the format file

resulting format file looked like this:

11.0

2

1SQLCHAR 0 4 "," 1 tax_year ""

2 SQLCHAR 0 5 "\r" 2 fips_code ""