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- Can EFIN be suppressed in 8879 printout?
Can EFIN be suppressed in 8879 printout?
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JimS_1
Level 3
12-14-2021
09:54 AM
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To protect my EFIN, is there a way to suppress the EFIN printing out at the bottom of the 8879 in Lacerte when we send to clients? I don't think it's necessary for clients to know their accountants EFIN, and the document is just for our records. I'm concerned the client is saving a copy of the 8879, could be hacked and my EFIN exposed? Bad enough I have to worry about my being hacked, but now I have to worry about my clients being hacked?
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Karl
Level 8
12-24-2021
03:32 PM
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I don't know of a way to suppress it. My gut says (I admit that I can't find anything authoritative on this) that you can't suppress data on an authorization form that you have the client sign.
The IRS website has a means by which you can monitor the volume of your EFIN usage to make sure it's not being used by someone else.
https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/how-to-maintain-monitor-and-protect-your-efin
https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/faqs-about-electronic-filing-identification-numbers-efin
I would also say that if I had a client that I suspected might do something like this, I'd disengage anyway.
I'm sorry not to have a more concrete answer for you.
*If this (or another answer/reply) solves your problem, please click "Accept as Solution" to get this post out of the "Unanswered" queue of posts.*
JimS_1
Level 3
12-25-2021
11:38 AM
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Thank you for the response Karl. The concern I had was not whether our clients would misuse the EFIN, but rather whether they have lax controls on their own files (eg a weak password on their dropbox or Google Drive). But a larger issue may be if they discontinue using my firm and choose to have another accountant (or friend) do their taxes in the future, they will likely share the 8879 along with the rest of the tax return, and thus the EFIN gets exposed further. Or worse, the new accountant may use my EFIN.
Agree that we can check the EFIN on our IRS account, but would be better if IRS would send an email each time a return is filed with an EFIN so that we can more proactively react to filings real-time instead of having to constantly check the site and add up number of filings and confirm if any extras were filed that we did not authorize.
Just trying to think of different ways to avoid extra work... Thanks again,
