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An EFIN (Electronic Filing Identification
Number) is a number provided by the IRS to identify the
transmitter and site from which Electronic Tax Returns are filed. One EFIN
is generally
used for transmitting returns prepared from all the computers in a site
and sometimes for returns prepared in
multiple sites.
Licensing restrictions require sites using TaxWise
Desktop to use only ONE transmitting
computer for sending the Tax Returns to the IRS through UTS.
There is no technical restriction that prevents transmitting
from multiple computers for the same EFIN. The
restriction comes from the licensing requirements of the software, and the practical
logistics of managing transmissions from multiple computers. UTS/IRS use the EFIN number to send messages,
acknowledgements and accept/reject messages when a
transmitting computer connects to their server, and then
deletes the message from the mailbox. If two computers A & B transmit
with the same EFIN,
acknowledgements and messages for E-files transmitted
from computer A may go to computer B when computer B
connects. If the same person transmits from Computer A
and Computer B, this is not a problem. Since Computer
B may not know about files transmitted from Computer A,
the returns show as never being acknowledged on Computer
A. However, if
different people transmit from the computers A and B, computer A
transmitter may wonder why the
acknowledgements were never received, while computer B
transmitter may get acknowledgements and rejections for
E-files not sent from Computer B.
On the other hand, one computer can transmit
E-Files for multiple EFINs. This requires changing the EFIN between transmissions.
An electronically filed tax return has a DCN
(Document Control Number) that is assigned when the E-File
if first created for the return. Subsequent
re-creations of the E-files for that return will retain that
DCN. The DCN includes the EFIN
and an additional Sequence Number (SN) to uniquely
identify a tax return. An EFIN is assigned to each
TaxWise installation, and identifies the
site where the return was prepared. However, if the
preparer EFIN is different from the transmitting EFIN, the
E-File is rejected. To avoid headaches, and as a
practical matter, use the same EFIN for preparing and transmitting
a return; otherwise, the EFIN
for the E-File needs to be changed on the Transmitting
computer.
The DCN is assigned when the E-File is created.
To avoid duplicate SNs, there are
several solutions:
- Create E-Files only on the transmitting computer.
The preparer checks the return, gets signatures, then transfers the return
to the transmitting computer by doing a backup and
restore. The problem is
that the 8453 generated does not include a DCN
number on the signed copy, and the transmitter will
subsequently have to fill it in by hand for copy
sent to the IRS.
- Assign different SN starting numbers to each
preparing computer, and create E-files on the preparing
computer, then transfer the E-file to the transmitting computer.
The starting SN for each
computer should be assigned by the transmitter for the
EFIN. A good policy is to assign starting SNs 1000 numbers apart.
- Set up a Networked TaxWise system
in which the transmitting computer is also the
TaxWise server computer and all returns are stored
directly on that computer. Whenever a new
E-File is created, the next number in the sequence
is generated automatically.
Note that E-files do not need to have sequential
SN
numbers; they only need to be unique.
The above restrictions and
considerations do not apply to sites using
TaxWise
Online software. Since all the information is
stored on a remote server, the server assigns the DCNs,
and returns can be transmitted using any computer than
can access the server.
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