1040 E-file: Selecting Signature Options

Individual federal tax returns e-filed by tax practitioners must be signed electronically using a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Tax practitioners must use either the Self-Select PIN or the Practitioner PIN methods to sign their clients’ tax returns. This simplifies the signature process and eliminates the need to mail signature documents to the IRS.

The Self-Select PIN allows taxpayers to electronically sign their e-filed returns using a five-digit PIN and either their prior year adjusted gross income or prior year PIN. Taxpayers must complete and sign Form 8879, IRS E-file Signature Authorization, unless they enter their PIN directly into the electronic return.

The Practitioner PIN method is an additional signature method for taxpayers who use an Electronic Return Originator (ERO) to sign their returns by using a five-digit PIN. The Practitioner PIN method does not require taxpayers to enter their adjusted gross income or PIN from the prior year. This method requires the taxpayer and Practitioner to sign Form 8879, IRS E-file Signature Authorization.

Tax practitioners will no longer submit a paper signature for e-filed returns by using Form 8453. Instead, a newly designed Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS E-file Return, will be used to transmit supporting paper documents that are required to be submitted to the IRS with e-filed returns. Only the specified forms or supporting documents listed on Form 8453 can be submitted using the new form.

For more information on the Self-Select PIN and Practitioner PIN methods, visit the IRS web site at http://www.irs.gov/, and enter the keyword PIN.

PIN Procedures

Enter a signature PIN. The taxpayer can choose a practitioner or self-selected PIN/Signature Authorization. Taxpayers are generally allowed to provide preparers with a self-selected PIN, or the preparer can choose the PIN.

Entering PIN Information

Select E-file > Signature Authorization.
Select the type of PIN signature: Form 8879 - Practitioner PIN or Self-Select PIN.
Select the appropriate option to indicate who entered the PIN into the program: ERO or Taxpayer/spouse.
If you select Taxpayer/spouse and Self-Select PIN, Form 8879 will not print. The preparer must keep the signed Form 8879 for three years. Do NOT send Form 8879 to the IRS!
For the taxpayer/spouse, you can select any or all of the following options:
- randomly generate the taxpayer and spouse PINs
- randomly generate the ERO PIN
- print the taxpayer and spouse PINs on the signature line on Form 1040, Page 2.
Enter the five-digit PINs (the numbers cannot contain all zeros) for the taxpayer, spouse, and ERO. For more information on self-select PINs, see 1040 E-file: Appendix C - PIN Information.
Enter the date the PIN(s) were entered into the program.
Enter the taxpayer’s 2019 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) on the original return filed (not from an amended return) or 2019 PIN or EFP (E-file PIN) obtained from the IRS.
If you are preparing a joint return in 2020, but the spouse filed a separate return in 2019, enter the spouse’s prior-year AGI or prior-year PIN. If the AGI was zero or negative, enter NONE.
- If you used the Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here in 2019 to register for an Economic Impact Payment, you should enter $1 as the prior-year AGI verification.
- If you did not use the Non-Filers tool in 2019 to register for an Economic Impact Payment and you did not file an electronic or a paper Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR for 2019, you should enter $0 as the prior-year AGI verification.
- If you filed an electronic or a paper 2019 Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR, enter the AGI amount from line 8b of the submitted 2019 Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR as the prior-year AGI verification.
For taxpayers under the age of 16, indicate if the underage taxpayer is under 16 but is not a first-time filer. Filers under 16 cannot use PINs unless they indicate that they have filed in the past.
Enter the e-file PIN provided by the IRS, if applicable. For more information on EFPs, see 1040 E-file: Appendix C - PIN Information.
Enter identity protection PINs for the taxpayer and spouse. For more information on identity protection PINs, see 1040 E-file: Appendix C - PIN Information.

E-file/1040_ef_return_3.htm/TY2020

Last Modified: 01/27/2021

Last System Build: 09/13/2021