SEE-3 - Filing Process (16% of the exam) - Section 4.2

Apply the e-file program rules, including the e-file mandate for paid preparers, Form 8879 e-file authorisation, EFIN requirements, and handling of rejected returns.

Apply the electronic filing rules: the e-file mandate requiring specified preparers to file electronically, the Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) obtained through the IRS e-file application, and the taxpayer authorisation captured on Form 8879 before transmission. Recognise the procedures and timelines for correcting and retransmitting a rejected e-filed return or, where necessary, filing a paper return.

IRS e-fileForm 8879EFINE-file mandateRejected return

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleFiling Processeasy

What is the function of Form 8879, IRS e-file Signature Authorization, when an electronic return originator e-files an individual income tax return?

AIt is the document the electronic return originator mails to the IRS service centre after transmission so that the IRS can match the paper signature to the electronic record on file.
BIt is the authorisation by which the taxpayer permits the electronic return originator to enter or generate the taxpayer's personal identification number as the signature on the electronic return. Correct
CIt is the application a paid preparer completes with the IRS to obtain an electronic filing identification number before the preparer is permitted to transmit any return electronically.
DIt is the acknowledgement the IRS sends back to the electronic return originator confirming that a transmitted return has been accepted for processing rather than rejected.

Recognise that Form 8879 is the taxpayer's authorisation allowing the electronic return originator to use the taxpayer's PIN as the signature on an e-filed return. Form 8879 exists so that the taxpayer can sign an electronic return without a paper signature: by completing it the taxpayer authorises the originator to enter or generate the taxpayer's PIN, which then functions as the legal signature, distinguishing it from the EFIN application, from Form 8453, and from any IRS acknowledgement.

Why A is wrong: Mailing a signature document to the IRS recalls Form 8453, which transmits certain paper attachments, but Form 8879 is retained by the originator rather than mailed in, so this confuses the two forms and their handling.

Why B is correct: Form 8879 is the IRS e-file Signature Authorization through which the taxpayer authorises the originator to input or generate the taxpayer's PIN, serving as the taxpayer's signature on the e-filed return, which states the function accurately.

Why C is wrong: Obtaining the right to e-file is done through the IRS e-file application that yields an EFIN, so describing Form 8879 as that application confuses the firm's enrolment with the per-return taxpayer authorisation.

Why D is wrong: An acceptance acknowledgement is generated by the IRS after transmission, but Form 8879 originates with the taxpayer before transmission, so casting it as an inbound IRS confirmation reverses who creates it and when.

See more SEE-3 practice questions, answers explained.

Exam traps in Filing Process

Answers that look right on this material and are not. Each one is a distractor from a different question in the SEE-3 bank for this domain.

Because the form serves as the originator's request for an electronic filing identification number, which the IRS must issue before any return from that firm may be transmitted.
Why it is wrong: An EFIN is a prerequisite to transmitting, which makes enrolment sound relevant, but the EFIN comes from the IRS e-file application rather than Form 8879, so tying the per-return authorisation to firm enrolment confuses the two.
Transmit the return now and treat Vincent's recorded telephone approval as the authorisation, because a clear verbal consent from the taxpayer satisfies the signature requirement for an electronically filed individual return.
Why it is wrong: Verbal approval feels like genuine consent and seems enough to proceed, but the taxpayer must sign Form 8879 before the return is transmitted, so a phone go-ahead does not satisfy the authorisation requirement and transmitting now would be improper.
After the IRS issues its acknowledgement that the return was accepted, so that the authorisation reflects a return the service has already agreed to process for the taxpayer.
Why it is wrong: Waiting for acceptance seems to confirm the return first, but the signed authorisation must exist before transmission, not after the acknowledgement, so timing the signature to acceptance breaches the rule.

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