990 E-file: Appendix C - Attachments

Taxpayers are instructed to attach supporting information to the tax return. This includes tax forms, statements, elections, notices, schedules, or other types of miscellaneous information that may be required by IRS form instructions, regulations, or publications. These attachments may be submitted electronically as XML files or as PDF files.

XML Files

The IRS has defined schemas for the following information which must be provided in XML format:

Tax Forms. We automatically format tax form information included in the return as XML.
Information requested on tax form instructions to support specific lines, such as “Other Income.” In some cases, the schema provides specific data elements; in other cases, the schema allows for entry of free-form text. We automatically format this additional information included in the return as XML.
Information requested in regulations or publications which is not specified in form instructions but which must still be included in XML format. The IRS has defined two schemas for this information:
- Elections
- All other information not specifically requested.
If information for either of these two schemas requires presentation in a columnar format, the IRS will allow this information to be submitted as a PDF attachment.

PDF Files

PDF file types are the only files allowed as non-XML attachments by the IRS.

Keep PDF attachments as small as possible. If you are using Adobe Acrobat, avoid requiring compatibility with Adobe Acrobat versions earlier than version 6. Making the PDF file compatible with earlier versions will increase the size of the file. Move the compression/quality slider on the Create PDF from Scanner to higher compression to decrease the size of the file when the source document is of decent quality and comes from scanner input.

Each individual uncompressed PDF cannot exceed 60 MB. The total of all uncompressed PDF files in the return cannot exceed one GB.

Multiple PDF files may be submitted, but each PDF file must be smaller than 60 MB.

If you are filing any of the IRS forms allowed as a PDF attachment, you must create a separate file for each form type included as a PDF (that is, one file for Forms 926, one file for Forms 982, and so forth).

The file name of each PDF cannot exceed 64 characters, which includes the locator number and the file extension (12 characters), and cannot contain any of the special characters shown below.

The title for attachments is limited to 128 characters and must be meaningful. The IRS relies on meaningful titles for referencing the correct attachments. The IRS has predefined the title for four types of attachments. These predefined titles are:

8453-EO Signature Document
Changes not reported to IRS.

Forbidden Characters in PDF Filenames

The filename cannot contain any of the following characters:

Apostrophe (')
Double quotation mark (")
Left and right angle brackets (<) and (>)
Vertical bar (|)
Square brackets ([ ])
Caret (^)
Ampersand (&(the and symbol above the number 7 on the keyboard))
Slashes (/) and (\)
Colon and semicolon (:) and (;)
Question and exclamation marks (?) and (!)
Asterisk (*)
Double periods (..)

Steps for Attaching PDF Files

Follow these steps for attaching PDF files:

To display the Electronic Filing Attachments window, go to Organizer > E-file > Return > Attachments > PDF Attachments > Summary.
Select the Attach PDF button.
In the E-file Attachments window, click Add to add a new attachment.
On the Add Attachment window, select the jurisdiction (or form) for which this attachment should apply.
The next window allows you to browse to the desired PDF file. Select the PDF file, and click Next.
The next window will indicate the selected file. You must now select a meaningful title for the attachment. You can select one of the predefined titles, or enter your own user-defined title. The default user-defined title is the file name without the extension. After selecting one of the predefined titles, or entering your own meaningful title, click Next.
The selected PDF file now appears on the E-file Attachments window and shows the jurisdiction, attachment title, file name, file size, and date modified. Click Done to complete the attachment.
Review the PDF attachments included in the return on the Attachments Organizer screen.

Meaningful Titles

Meaningful titles must be described in 128 characters or less. The following are examples of meaningful titles:

PDF Attachment Description	PDF File Name Examples
A warehousing leasing agreement required by regulations	Leasing Agmt
An appraiser statement on a Francisco de Goya oil painting	Appraiser Stmt
An appraiser statement on a Pablo Picasso painting	Picasso A Appraiser
An appraiser statement for a second Pablo Picasso painting	Picasso B Appraiser

Options Available for PDF Attachments

Once you have attached a PDF, you have several additional options. From the E-file Attachments window, you may associate an existing attachment with additional jurisdictions, replace or delete an attachment, or retrieve an attachment.

To associate an existing attachment with other jurisdictions:

Click Add.
Select the attachment jurisdiction.
Click Associate an existing attachment with an additional jurisdiction.
Click Next. The Attach Existing File screen lists the file names of the original attachment, preceded by the original jurisdiction.
Click OK, and then edit the title if necessary.
Click Finish.

At this time, the federal return, the federal extension, and California are the only forms and jurisdictions that allow PDF attachments.