Say goodbye to Form 8879-C & hello to Form 8879-CORP

Heads up Finance leaders! The IRS announced on its website that Form 8879-C – the E-file Signature Authorization for Form 1120, the U.S. Corporation tax form – is now “historical.”

What this means: “The 2021 revision is the last revision of the form. Prior revisions will be available on IRS.gov,” the Service said.

Specifically, the form is for a business’s tax reporting officer of record that wants to use a personal identification number to electronically sign off on a corporation income tax return.

New Form 8879 to watch for

Companies that have been using Form 8879-C to authorize electronic filing of Form 1120 will need to use a different form next year for the 2022 tax year, IRS said.

The new Form will be 8879-CORP, E-file Authorization for Corporations. It will be the official e-file authorization for:

• Form 1120
• Form 1120-F (U.S. Income Tax Return of a Foreign Corporation), and
• Form 1120-S (U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation).

Other important e-filing & e-signature guidance

This isn’t the only recent change involving an e-file authorization form. At the beginning of the year, IRS introduced Form 8879-TE, E-file Signature Authorization for a Tax Exempt Entity, for tax year 2021.

IRS also recently released guidance on what counts as an e-signature for forms filed both electronically and by mail.

Due to the pandemic, e-signatures for a number of forms will be accepted until Oct. 31, 2023, including:

• Form 1128 (Application to Adopt, Change or Retain a Tax Year)
• Form 2678 (Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent), and
• Form 3115 (Application for Change in Accounting Method).

According to the latest IRS guidance, acceptable types of e-signatures are:

1. a typed name on a signature block
2. a scanned or digitized image of a handwritten signature that’s attached to an electronic record
3. a handwritten signature input onto an electronic signature pad
4. a handwritten signature, mark or command input on a display screen with a stylus device, and
5. a signature created by a third-party software.