Does the IRS Accept Electronic Signatures? Forms and Exceptions

Yes. The IRS accepts electronic signatures on a wide range of forms, including individual and business tax returns filed through software, e-file authorization forms, power-of-attorney submissions through IRS online portals, and a long list of paper forms that used to require ink. What counts as a valid signature and how you apply it depends on the specific form and how you’re submitting it. Most individual taxpayers already sign electronically every year without thinking about it: the five-digit PIN you enter when e-filing your return is your legal signature.¹

Signing Your Own E-Filed Return

If you file your own return using consumer tax software, you sign with a self-select PIN. Pick any five-digit number other than all zeros. To verify your identity, the software asks for your date of birth and either your prior-year adjusted gross income or the PIN you used last year. If the IRS issued you an Identity Protection PIN, that replaces the AGI or prior-year PIN for verification.¹ On a joint return, each spouse enters their own PIN.²

Once you transmit the return, you should receive an electronic acknowledgment confirming the IRS accepted it.

Signing When a Preparer Files for You

When a tax professional e-files on your behalf, the process shifts. The preparer, called an Electronic Return Originator (ERO), has you sign Form 8879, IRS e-file Signature Authorization, before transmitting the return. Under the practitioner PIN method, you authorize the ERO to enter or generate a PIN on your behalf, and the ERO signs the return using their own EFIN and self-selected PIN.³ Form 8878 covers the same authorization when your preparer is e-filing an extension on Form 4868 or Form 2350.⁴

If you e-sign Form 8879 or 8878 remotely (not sitting in the preparer’s office), the ERO’s software has to verify your identity before you sign. It records your name, Social Security number, address, and date of birth, then typically runs a soft credit inquiry to generate knowledge-based authentication questions about your personal and financial history: your mortgage lender, a vehicle you financed, a former address. Fail three times and the electronic signature option closes, so the ERO has to collect a handwritten signature instead. Verification runs every time you e-sign, with one exception: if you sign in the ERO’s physical presence and have an ongoing multi-year relationship with the firm, it can be waived.⁵

What Counts as an Electronic Signature

The IRS recognizes several signature methods, and each form’s guidance specifies which ones apply to it. Approved types include:

A typed name entered into a signature block on an electronic record.
A scanned or digitized image of a handwritten signature attached to the record.
A PIN, password, or other shared secret.
A biometric identifier such as a fingerprint, voice print, or retinal scan.
A handwritten signature captured on an electronic pad or touchscreen with a stylus.
A checkbox selection on an electronic device, used for forms like Form 8655, Reporting Agent Authorization.
A signature created through commercial e-signature software, where the form’s guidance allows it.

The IRS also accepts voice signature technology for certain forms, including Form 8850 for the Work Opportunity Credit. Whichever method is used, the signature has to reflect the signer’s intent, be logically linked to the document, and the process has to be able to detect any changes made after signing.⁶

Which Forms Can Be Signed Electronically

Two categories of forms accept electronic signatures. The first covers forms that have long used electronic methods like PINs and checkboxes as part of the e-file system:

Individual returns: Form 1040 when e-filed.
Business returns: Form 1120, Form 1065, Form 990.
Employment tax returns: Form 940 and Form 941.
Excise tax returns: Form 720 and Form 2290.
E-file authorizations: the Form 8879 and 8878 families.
Transcript requests (Form 4506-T), reporting agent authorizations (Form 8655), and excise tax refund claims (Form 8849).

The second category is a list of forms that traditionally required ink but were opened to electronic signatures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those flexibilities were originally set to expire on October 31, 2023, but the IRS extended them indefinitely while it works on more permanent technical solutions.⁷ The list includes the estate and gift tax returns (the Form 706 series and Form 709), certain business forms such as Form 11-C and Form 637, and applications like Form 1127 for hardship-based payment extensions.⁶

Power-of-attorney and information authorization forms have their own path. Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) and Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) can be uploaded through the IRS online tool with a typed name, scanned signature, stylus input, or a signature from third-party software. Sign in or create an IRS account, answer a few questions about the form, and upload it; you’ll get an email when the IRS receives it. If you mail or fax those same forms instead, they must carry a wet ink signature.⁸

When You Still Need Ink

Any form not specifically listed in IRS guidance as eligible for electronic signature still requires a handwritten one. And the submission channel matters as much as the form: a form that accepts e-signature in one context can require ink in another.

Paper-filed returns are the clearest example. A Form 1040 filed on paper needs a handwritten signature, even though the same return e-filed through software uses a PIN.⁶ The same is true for Form 1120 and most other returns filed on paper.

Form 2553, used to elect S corporation status, catches people out. It doesn’t appear on the IRS’s electronic signature lists. The IRS does accept faxed copies, and it has concluded that faxed signatures are legally sufficient for Form 2553, so you don’t necessarily need to mail the original. If you fax it, keep the original with your permanent corporate records.⁹

Collection forms have shifted recently. Form 656 (Offer in Compromise) traditionally required an ink signature when mailed, but taxpayers can now submit Form 656 and Form 433-A(OIC) electronically through their IRS Individual Online Account, in which case an ink signature is not required.¹⁰ For installment agreements, you can apply online through your IRS account or mail Form 9465, which requires a signature for direct debit authorization.¹¹

Recordkeeping If You Collect Signatures

If you’re a tax professional collecting e-signatures rather than a taxpayer providing one, retention rules apply. EROs must keep Form 8879 or Form 8878 in a tamper-proof, access-controlled storage system for three years from the return’s due date or the date the IRS received it, whichever is later. These forms should not be sent to the IRS unless specifically requested.⁵

The IRS also expects the signature process to maintain an audit trail. If a signature is stored separately from the document, there must be a reliable link between the two, such as a relational database or digital signature algorithm. For signatures transmitted through secure systems, the IRS requires encryption that proves the document is original and unmodified.⁶ If you’re choosing e-signature software for a business, confirming it produces a complete audit trail with timestamps is worth the few minutes it takes to check.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 255, Signing Your Return Electronically
2
Internal Revenue Service. Self-Select PIN Method for Forms 1040 and 4868 Modernized e-File (MeF)
3
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8879 IRS e-file Signature Authorization
4
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8878, IRS e-file Signature Authorization for Form 4868 or Form 2350
5
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions for IRS e-file Signature Authorization
6
Internal Revenue Service. 10.10.1 IRS Electronic Signature (e-Signature) Program
7
Internal Revenue Service. IR-2023-199: IRS Extends Popular Flexibilities Set to Expire
8
Internal Revenue Service. Submit Forms 2848 and 8821 Online
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2553 (Rev. December 2020)
10
Internal Revenue Service. Interim Guidance on Securing, Processing Original Offers in Compromise via Individual Online Account (IOLA)
11
Internal Revenue Service. Payment Plans; Installment Agreements