2018 Software for business tax returns will ask questions

[Rapid Robert]

A few months ago I saw this press release info from IRS mailing list.

Has anyone seen this being required to efile entity returns so far this season? Not me.

New Procedures to Protect Businesses in 2018

The IRS, state tax agencies and software providers have ways to detect suspicious returns. However, some new measures can help validate returns in advance. The IRS and states are asking businesses and tax professionals to help verify if a tax return is legitimate. These procedures are new for 2018. Software for business tax returns will ask questions related to:

The person authorized to sign the return
Payment history
Parent company information
Past deductions
Filing history

[Jiggers]

I have e-filed several returns. No rejects. And couldn't provide information as none filed payroll or sales tax returns.

[Burke]

Has anyone seen this being required to e-file entity returns so far this season??

More or less. My software (ATX) has an "authorization" worksheet which has all sorts of questions on it, including name of person authorized to sign return and their SSN, also info on gross income from last year, etc, etc, for the federal return, and another input on the same page for the state return. It also says "only the first question (name & SSN) is required to e-file the return for 2017." The rest is voluntary. This was part of the software last year as well. All the other information is designed to divert filing fraudulent returns but is not yet required to be completed. Apparently for 2018, it will be.