Completion of the Filing Process · Electronic filing
E-file authorization and supporting documentation
tax year · reviewed 2026-08-19 · I. Ohu
The rule
Two different problems get solved by two different forms, and confusing them is the commonest error in this area.
Signature authorization answers: how does the taxpayer sign an electronic return? A return must be signed by the person required to make it (IRC § 6061), and there are two electronic signature methods, both using a personal identification number to sign the return and the Declaration of Taxpayer.
- The Self-Select PIN method requires the taxpayer to provide the prior year adjusted gross income amount or prior year PIN, which the IRS uses to authenticate them. This method may be completely paperless if the taxpayers enter their own PINs directly into the electronic return record using keystrokes after reviewing the completed return.
- The Practitioner PIN method does not require prior year AGI or PIN. Instead, taxpayers must always sign a completed signature authorization form — and Publication 1345 adds that they must do so even if they enter their own PINs by keystroke after reviewing the return.
The operative rule cuts across both: any time an ERO enters the taxpayer’s PIN on the electronic return, the ERO must complete a signature authorization form, signed by the taxpayer, before the return is submitted. Form 8879 authorises an ERO to enter a taxpayer’s PIN on an individual income tax return. Form 8878 authorises an ERO to enter the PIN on Form 1040 extension forms — and is needed for Form 4868 only where the taxpayer is authorising an electronic funds withdrawal and wants the ERO to enter the PIN.
Transmittal of paper answers a different question: what happens to documents that cannot be filed electronically? Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return, is the cover sheet those documents travel under. It is not a signature form and it is not an alternative to Form 8879.
Current figures
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| ERO retention of Forms 8878 and 8879 | three years from the return due date or the IRS received date, whichever is laterTY2026 |
| Ineligible to use the Self-Select PIN | primary taxpayers under age 16 who have never filed, and secondary taxpayers under age 16 who did not file the prior tax yearTY2026 |
EROs must not send Forms 8878 and 8879 to the IRS unless the IRS requests them.
How it works in practice
Sequence matters, and there is one permitted shortcut. The ERO may enter the taxpayer’s PIN in the electronic return record before the taxpayer signs Form 8878 or 8879 — but the taxpayer must sign and date the form before the ERO originates the electronic submission. The taxpayer signs after reviewing the return and confirming that the tax return information on the authorization form matches the return.
Delivery of the signed form is flexible. The taxpayer may return a completed Form 8878 or 8879 by hand delivery, U.S. mail, private delivery service, fax, e-mail or an internet website.
Pre-signed authorizations exist, narrowly. Only taxpayers who provide a completed tax return to an ERO for electronic filing may sign the signature authorization without reviewing the return the ERO originates. In that case the ERO must enter the line items from the paper return onto the authorization form before the taxpayer signs and dates it, and may use the pre-signed authorization as authority to input the PIN only if the electronic version agrees with the entries from the paper return. Any discrepancy voids the shortcut.
Electronic signatures on the authorization form are allowed, with conditions. Taxpayers may sign Forms 8878 and 8879 electronically where the software provides the capability, and no specific technology is required. Publication 1345 lists acceptable methods: a handwritten signature on a signature pad; a handwritten signature, mark or command entered on a display screen with a stylus; a digitised image of a handwritten signature attached to an electronic record; a typed name; a shared secret such as a code, password or PIN; a digital signature; and a mark captured as a scalable graphic.
Where an electronic signature is used, the software must record: a digital image of the signed form; the date and time of the signature; for remote transactions, the taxpayer’s IP address and login username; identity verification, being the taxpayer’s passed knowledge-based authentication results and, for in-person transactions, confirmation that government photo identification was verified; and the method used to sign, or a system log or other audit trail showing the signer completed the process. The ERO must provide this information to the IRS on request — which means a firm using electronic signatures should know its software captures it, not assume so.
Form 8453 carries what the system cannot. IRS e-file returns must contain the same information as a fully paper return, and forms with an electronic format must be submitted electronically unless the IRS identifies an exception during the year. Where a form or document cannot be transmitted, the IRS can accept it in PDF format if the software offers that; otherwise the ERO attaches it to Form 8453 and mails it, using the address on page 2 of the form. The documents on the list include Form 1098-C (or an equivalent contemporaneous written acknowledgment), Form 2848 where an electronic return is signed by an agent, Form 3115, Form 3468 with its historic preservation certification, Form 4136 with fuel credit certificates, Form 5713, Form 8283 Section A where a statement or qualified appraisal is required or Section B with related attachments, Form 8332 (or the specified pages of a pre-2009 divorce decree), Form 8858 and Form 8864.
Ensuring the paper reaches the IRS is the ERO’s job. Publication 1345 makes EROs responsible for submitting to the IRS all paper documents required to complete the filing of returns. An accepted acknowledgment does not mean the Form 8453 package was mailed.
The signature that came after transmission
A busy office transmits Serafina Oduya-Lindqvist’s return on Wednesday and posts her Form 8879 for signature the same afternoon. She signs and returns it on Friday.
The order is wrong and it cannot be fixed retrospectively. The ERO may enter the PIN into the electronic record before the form is signed, but the taxpayer must sign and date it before the ERO originates the electronic submission. Transmitting first means the return was originated on an authorization that did not exist. The correct workflow is to prepare, send for signature, receive the signed form, and only then transmit — and where the client is slow, the pressure point is the client, not the sequence.
Practitioner PIN and the client who typed her own number
Under the Practitioner PIN method, Melchior Vandenbroucke’s client reviews the completed return and enters her own five-digit PIN by keystroke. The preparer concludes that no Form 8879 is needed, since the client signed the return herself.
Publication 1345 forecloses this in terms: taxpayers who use the Practitioner PIN method must sign the signature authorization form even if they enter their own PINs using keystrokes after reviewing the return. The completely paperless option belongs to the Self-Select PIN method, which carries its own price — the taxpayer must supply prior year AGI or PIN for authentication. Choosing the Practitioner PIN method to avoid that authentication step means accepting the signed authorization form that comes with it.
The appraisal that never left the office
Hyacinth Baptiste-Nakamura claims a substantial non-cash charitable contribution requiring a qualified appraisal. The return is prepared, Form 8283 Section B is completed, and the return is transmitted and accepted. The appraisal stays in the file.
The acknowledgment says the electronic return was accepted; it says nothing about the appraisal. Form 8283 Section B and its related attachments, including a qualified appraisal, are on the list of documents to be attached to Form 8453 and mailed, and the ERO is responsible for submitting all required paper documents to complete the filing. The practical safeguard is a checklist item at the point of acceptance rather than at the point of preparation: which returns from this batch generate a Form 8453 package, and has it gone?
How this has changed
The direction of travel has been toward eliminating paper at every point except the ones where paper is unavoidable. The Self-Select PIN method made a fully paperless individual return possible; electronic signature guidance for Forms 8878 and 8879 extended that to the authorization itself, with an explicit statement that no specific technology is required and a list of acceptable methods broad enough to include a typed name. The identity verification requirements that accompany electronic signatures — knowledge-based authentication for remote transactions, government photo identification for in-person ones, with a recorded audit trail — are the price of that flexibility and are the newer part of the rules.
Form 8453’s list has shrunk as more forms became transmittable and as PDF attachment became available in most software. It has not disappeared, and the items that remain are the ones where the IRS wants an original document: appraisals, certifications from other agencies, releases of a claim to a dependent, and a power of attorney where an agent signs the return.
Publication 1345 is revised annually. The Form 8453 document list and the electronic signature requirements are the parts most worth re-reading each season.
Exam focus
Know which form does what: Form 8879 authorises an ERO to enter a taxpayer’s PIN on an individual return, Form 8878 does the same for a Form 1040 extension where an electronic funds withdrawal is involved, and Form 8453 transmits supporting documents that cannot be filed electronically. Know that only the Self-Select PIN method permits a completely paperless process, and that the Practitioner PIN method always requires a signed authorization. Know that the taxpayer must sign before the ERO originates the submission, that the ERO retains the authorization for three years from the later of the due date or the IRS received date, and that the forms are not sent to the IRS unless requested.
Check yourself
1. Which electronic signature method allows a completely paperless process?
A. The Self-Select PIN method B. The Practitioner PIN method C. Both methods D. Neither method
Answer: A — where the taxpayer enters their own PIN by keystroke after reviewing the return. The Practitioner PIN method always requires a signed authorization form.
2. When must a taxpayer sign Form 8879 relative to transmission?
A. Within three days after the return is transmitted B. Before the ERO originates the electronic submission of the return C. At any time before the IRS acknowledges the return D. Only if the IRS requests it
Answer: B. The ERO may enter the PIN in the electronic record first, but the signature must precede origination.
3. What does an ERO do with a signed Form 8879?
A. Mail it to the IRS with the return B. Attach it to Form 8453 C. Retain it for three years from the later of the return due date or the IRS received date, and send it to the IRS only on request D. Destroy it once the return is accepted
Answer: C.
4. A return claims a non-cash charitable contribution requiring a qualified appraisal that cannot be transmitted electronically. What is the correct handling?
A. Retain it in the client file; nothing is sent B. Attach it to Form 8453 and mail it to the IRS, unless the software supports PDF attachment C. Attach it to Form 8879 D. Mail it with a copy of the acknowledgment to the e-help Desk
Answer: B. The ERO is responsible for submitting all paper documents required to complete the filing.
5. Under the Practitioner PIN method, the taxpayer reviews the return and enters her own PIN by keystroke. Is a signature authorization form required?
A. No; entering her own PIN is the signature B. No, provided the ERO documents that she entered it C. Yes; the form is required even where the taxpayer enters her own PIN D. Only if the return claims a refund
Answer: C. The requirement is stated expressly and is what distinguishes the method from Self-Select.
Change log
- Initial draft against Publication 1345 (Rev. 12-2025).