TIGTA says IRS should require more businesses to e-file

Sovos
November 13, 2014

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has released a report saying the IRS needs to develop a plan for increasing the rate of business electronic filing. Although business e-filing rates went up during the 2014 tax season and have done so over time, as indicated by an October IRS report, TIGTA said the pace isn’t as fast as it should be.

In particular, the rate of business e-filing isn’t keeping pace with individual taxpayer e-filing.

“For example, in processing year 2012, individual taxpayers e-filed 118.9 million (81 percent) tax returns; whereas in tax year 2012, business taxpayers e-filed 18.5 million (41 percent) tax returns,” the report read. “For business-filed information returns, a total of 1.95 billion (97 percent) were e-filed for this same period.”

The IRS has already taken a proactive approach to encouraging expanded business e-filing by permitting more business tax information returns to be processed through the modern e-filing (MeF) system. Currently, the system can be used for 141 types of business returns, and in 2012, 19 types could not be processed through the MeF system. TIGTA said those 19 types amount to 1.1 million paper-filed returns.

E-filing is a key IRS goal
The IRS views improving the rate of e-filing as one of its key objectives. In fact, the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC), which provides an annual report on the agency’s progress on and recommendations for reaching stated e-filing objectives, came about as part of the Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. In its most recent report, ETAAC praised the agency for the headway the IRS has made so far and suggested the addition of individualized PINs and improvements for electronic signatures to strengthen e-filing security.

TIGTA had its own recommendations in its report. Here are a few: 

  • The IRS should create a service-wide plan that details steps the agency will take to achieve a higher e-file rate among businesses.
  • The agency should expand the number of business returns that can be e-filed.
  • Procedures need to be outlined regarding penalties that will apply to businesses that don’t meet their electronic tax information reporting obligations.
  • TIGTA suggested the IRS determine whether it would be feasible to give businesses a free fillable forms option.

The IRS agreed with TIGTA for some of the recommendations, which indicates some business e-filing changes could appear in the future.

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Sovos

Sovos is a global provider of tax, compliance and trust solutions and services that enable businesses to navigate an increasingly regulated world with true confidence. Purpose-built for always-on compliance capabilities, our scalable IT-driven solutions meet the demands of an evolving and complex global regulatory landscape. Sovos’ cloud-based software platform provides an unparalleled level of integration with business applications and government compliance processes. More than 100,000 customers in 100+ countries – including half the Fortune 500 – trust Sovos for their compliance needs. Sovos annually processes more than three billion transactions across 19,000 global tax jurisdictions. Bolstered by a robust partner program more than 400 strong, Sovos brings to bear an unrivaled global network for companies across industries and geographies. Founded in 1979, Sovos has operations across the Americas and Europe, and is owned by Hg and TA Associates.
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