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The list of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms that can be digitally signed continues to grow. On August 28, 2020, the IRS issued a memorandum indicating that it would accept the use of digital signatures on various IRS forms because of the restrictions involved with the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, it announced the addition of several more forms. Then, on April 15, 2021, the IRS announced it is extending the authorization to a large number of IRS forms until December 31, 2021. The IRS has not specified which digital signature product tax professionals must use but has advised that there are several commercial products available.

The current list of IRS forms that can be digitally signed are:

Form 11-C, Occupational Tax and Registration Return for Wagering
Form 1066, U.S. Income Tax Return for Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit
Form 637, Application for Registration (for Certain Excise Tax Activities)
Form 706, U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return
Form 706-A, U.S. Additional Estate Tax Return
Form 706-GS(D), Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return for Distributions
Form 706-GS(D-1), Notification of Distribution From a Generation-Skipping Trust
Form 706-GS(T), Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return for Terminations
Form 706-QDT, U.S. Estate Tax Return for Qualified Domestic Trusts
Form 706, Schedule R-1, Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax
Form 706-NA, U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return
Form 709, U.S. Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return
Form 730, Monthly Tax Return for Wagers
Form 1120-C, U.S. Income Tax Return for Cooperative Associations
Form 1120-FSC, U.S. Income Tax Return of a Foreign Sales Corporation
Form 1120-H, U.S. Income Tax Return for Homeowners Associations
Form 1120-IC DISC, Interest Charge Domestic International Sales — Corporation Return
Form 1120-L, U.S. Life Insurance Company Income Tax Return
Form 1120-ND, Return for Nuclear Decommissioning Funds and Certain Related Persons
Form 1120-PC, U.S. Property and Casualty Insurance Company Income Tax Return
Form 1120-REIT, U.S. Income Tax Return for Real Estate Investment Trusts
Form 1120-RIC, U.S. Income Tax Return for Regulated Investment Companies
Form 1120-SF, U.S. Income Tax Return for Settlement Funds (Under Section 468B)
Form 1127, Application for Extension of Time for Payment of Tax Due to Undue Hardship
Form 1128, Application to Adopt, Change or Retain a Tax Year
Form 2678, Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent
Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method
Form 3520, Annual Return to Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts
Form 3520-A, Annual Information Return of Foreign Trust With a U.S. Owner
Form 4421, Declaration — Executor’s Commissions and Attorney’s Fees
Form 4768, Application for Extension of Time to File a Return and/or Pay U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Taxes
Form 8038, Information Return for Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond Issues
Form 8038-G, Information Return for Tax-Exempt Governmental Bonds
Form 8038-GC; Information Return for Small Tax-Exempt Governmental Bond Issues, Leases, and Installment Sales
Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions
Form 8453 series, Form 8878 series and Form 8879 series regarding IRS e-file Signature Authorization Forms
Form 8802, Application for U.S. [...]

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Most tax professionals are aware of the common-law “mailbox rule,” which provides that proof of proper mailing creates a rebuttable presumption that the document was physically delivered to the addressee. Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 7502 was enacted to codify the mailbox rule for tax purposes. Thus, for documents received after the applicable deadline, the document will be deemed to have been delivered on the date the document is postmarked. To protect taxpayers against a failure of delivery, Code section 7502 also provides that when a document is sent by registered mail, the registration serves as prima facie evidence that the document was delivered, and the date of registration is treated as the postmark date. In other words, if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claims not to have received a document, the presumption arises that such document was delivered so long as the taxpayer produces the registration.

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