Original Signature

[cgerhardt]

Has anyone heard of the IRS not processing a return due to the signature not being the original signature? I have a client out of the country and he faxed me the signature page and I mailed in the return for him (he could not e-file)

Will they charge a late penalty?

Thanks

[erchess]

I don't have a cite

but when I first started in this business I was told that signature of preparer had to be original and then this year from somewhere I got the idea that can now be stamped or applied by your software and printer. IF that's the case then I would guess that taxpayer's signature can be faxed. Maybe one of the big guns on the board will chime in. Bees where are you?

[ecb34691]

Why not? They accept the faxed POA.

[myerstaxes]

Go Here

It appears that for a tax return IRS will not accept a faxed signature...http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=114385,00.html...

In part it says...
Filing of original tax returns via fax will only be allowed as part of a return perfection process (e.g. securing missing schedule or missing signature) initiated by the IRS or in the post-filing/non-filing activities described in next bullet.Tax returns can be received via fax as part of return perfection even if a taxpayer signature is required, provided that IRS contact with the taxpayer has been made and documented.


And no, I do not believe that you will be subject to late filing penalties etc...

[JohnH]

I've seen a few situations in the past few years when a taxpayer sent in an unsigned return, or in some cases one spouse signed but the other forgot to do so. In those cases the IRS sent the return back to them (with some special processing markings on it), accompanied by a note that if they signed & returned it within 10 days it would be accepted as timely.

[les grans]

Is a xerox copy of a signature a signature? Naively, I also ask if a photograph of the Mona Lisa is the Mona Lisa... I am sure there's a rule somewhere, and I suspect that it requires an "original" signature on a tax return...

According to IRS's SCA 1998-038:

>>Neither the Code nor its legislative history defines the term
"signature." The generally accepted legal definition of signature is very
broad: "[t]he act of putting one's name on the end of any instrument to
attest its validity; the name thus written." See Black's Law Dictionary 1381
(6th ed. 1990). See also Webster's New International Dictionary (2d ed. 1934)
(defining signature as "the name of any person, written with his own hand to
signify that the writing which precedes accords with his wishes or
intentions"). 1 U.S.C. § 1 provides that "in determining the meaning of any
Act of Congress, unless the context indicates otherwise, signature includes a
mark when the person making the same intended it as such."<<

I'm not a lawyer; and I don't suggest that I know what this means....

You may want to see also IRS Notice 2004-54, "Alternative Methods of Signing for Income Tax Return Preparers"

[VT-EA]

A work around

The IRS will take a faxed POA therefore we should be able to take one and send it on to the IRS. Have the T/P send you one allowing you to sign on his behalf. See the instructions for line 5 of F2848. Add a copy of the POA to the return.