Form 8948: Exceptions, Filing Steps, and Penalties

Form 8948, Preparer Explanation for Not Filing Electronically, is the one-page statement a specified tax return preparer attaches to a paper-filed individual income tax return to tell the IRS which recognized exception justified skipping e-file. Without it, the IRS may return the paper filing unprocessed or assess a preparer penalty. The form is short, but several of its exception categories carry documentation requirements that catch preparers off guard.

Who Has to File Form 8948

The e-file mandate applies to any tax return preparer who reasonably expects to file more than ten individual income tax returns in a calendar year. The statute calls that person a “specified tax return preparer.”¹ If that’s you, every covered return you prepare must be e-filed unless an exception applies, and Form 8948 is how you document the exception.

For solo practitioners, the count is personal. At a firm, the threshold is aggregate. If the firm’s preparers collectively expect to file eleven or more individual returns, every preparer at the firm is a specified tax return preparer, even one who personally handles only two or three.²

Which Returns Trigger the Form

The mandate covers individual income tax returns under Subtitle A. In practice, that’s Form 1040 and Form 1041 for estates and trusts.³

Partnership returns (1065), corporate returns (1120), and exempt organization returns (990) are not covered by this mandate and do not trigger a Form 8948 obligation. They may have separate electronic filing rules under other provisions, but those are a different question.

You need Form 8948 only when both conditions are true: you’re a specified tax return preparer, and you’re filing a covered return on paper. One form goes with each paper return. You cannot batch several returns under a single 8948.⁴

The Six Exceptions on the Form

Form 8948 gives you six numbered checkboxes. You pick the one that applies and supply whatever additional detail that box requires.⁴

Box 1, taxpayer chose to file on paper. The most commonly used exception. Requires a signed statement from the client, discussed below.
Box 2, hardship waiver granted. The IRS approved a Form 8944 hardship waiver. Enter the waiver reference number and approval letter date on the form.
Box 3, religious objection. The preparer belongs to a recognized religious group conscientiously opposed to electronic filing. This turns on the preparer’s beliefs, not the client’s.
Box 4, e-file rejection that could not be resolved. You attempted to e-file, the IRS rejected the return, and you couldn’t fix it. Enter the reject code and the number of resolution attempts.
Box 5, software limitation. Your e-file software does not support a form or schedule attached to the return. Common with less frequently used schedules.
Box 6, other. A catch-all with sub-options for foreign preparers without Social Security numbers who live and work abroad, preparers ineligible to participate in IRS e-file, and a write-in field for other circumstances.

Only one box per form. If more than one exception could apply, choose the one that most accurately describes the situation.

The Taxpayer Choice Exception (Box 1)

When a client insists on filing a paper return, you’re not required to e-file it. But this exception only works if you get a proper written statement from the taxpayer.² A verbal request doesn’t cut it.

The statement has to be hand-signed and dated by the taxpayer (both spouses on a joint return) on or before the date the return is filed. It has to affirm two things: the taxpayer is choosing to file on paper, and the taxpayer, not the preparer, will submit the return to the IRS. Revenue Procedure 2011-25 provides template language that satisfies both requirements.⁵

Here’s the piece preparers frequently miss. Under this exception, the taxpayer handles the mailing. You furnish the completed return to the client for signature; the client submits it to the IRS. Because you aren’t filing the return, it isn’t considered “filed by” you for purposes of the mandate.⁶

Keep the signed statement in your records. Do not attach it to the return, and do not send it to the IRS. Form 8948 itself does not double as a taxpayer choice statement.⁴ The form goes with the return; the signed statement stays in your files.

The Hardship Waiver (Box 2) and Form 8944

If the cost or difficulty of complying with the mandate is genuinely unreasonable, you can request a waiver using Form 8944, Preparer e-file Hardship Waiver Request.⁷ The waiver applies to the entire calendar year, not to individual returns.

Submit Form 8944 between October 1 of the tax year and February 15 of the following year. A waiver request covering calendar year 2026, for example, is due between October 1, 2025 and February 15, 2026. If February 15 falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day.⁸

The IRS has to approve the waiver before you paper-file under it. Once approved, you receive a reference number and approval letter, and both go on Form 8948 (box 2) for every paper return you file under the waiver that year. Filing on paper while a waiver request is still pending does not shield you from penalties.

How to Fill Out and Attach the Form

The form is a single page. At the top, enter the taxpayer’s name and identifying number, the tax year of the return, your name as preparer, and your Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN).⁴ Your PTIN is the only preparer identifier the form asks for.

Below the header, check the applicable box and fill in whatever detail that box requires: waiver reference number and approval date for box 2; reject code and number of resolution attempts for box 4; the specific form or schedule for box 5; and so on.

Attach the completed Form 8948 to the paper return and file them together. The form is never submitted separately. If the client will mail the return under the taxpayer choice exception, attach Form 8948 to the return you furnish to the client.

Records to Keep Behind the Form

For every paper-filed return, keep internal documentation supporting the exception you claimed. For taxpayer choice, retain the hand-signed statement. For software limitations, note the specific form or schedule your software couldn’t transmit. For rejected returns, save the reject code and a record of your resolution attempts. This is the evidence you’ll produce if the IRS questions your use of the exception.

The IRS does not set a retention period unique to Form 8948. General preparer recordkeeping rules under IRC §6107 require copies of returns (or a list of returns filed) and related records for three years after the close of the return period. Applying that same window to your 8948 backup is a reasonable baseline.

Penalties for Paper Filing Without a Valid Exception

The IRS can penalize a specified tax return preparer who paper-files covered returns without a qualifying exception. For returns filed in calendar year 2025, the per-return penalty under IRC §6695 is $60 per failure for most preparer obligations, with an annual cap of $31,500.⁹ These amounts are inflation-adjusted annually, so 2026 figures may differ slightly when published.

The penalty is per return. A preparer who paper-files twenty returns without valid exceptions faces twenty separate assessments. Reasonable cause is a defense, and a properly completed Form 8948 with accurate exception documentation is how you establish it. Filing the form when you have a legitimate reason is the cheapest insurance the tax code offers.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6011 – General Requirement of Return, Statement, or List
2
govinfo. 26 CFR 301.6011-7 – Magnetic Media Filing Requirements for Specified Tax Return Preparers
3
Internal Revenue Service. E-file Requirements for Specified Tax Return Preparers
4
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8948 Instructions for Specified Tax Return Preparers
5
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2011-25
6
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2011-25
7
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8944, Preparer e-file Hardship Waiver Request
8
Internal Revenue Service. 3.42.20 Preparer e-file Hardship Waiver Requests
9
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Preparer Penalties