Efiling ProConnect Tax with Foreign Address

[USTaxfromCanada]

Can you e-file individual and business returns in ProConnect Tax for a client with a Foreign Address (Canadian address)?

[George4Tacks]

IRS e-file is currently closed, but otherwise YES.

I am assuming that the preparer has an EFIN. It does not work like personal tax software. No EFIN, then you can create a paper file return.

[USTaxfromCanada]

Yes, I have an EFIN as the tax preparer.  Thank you for confirming as I got different answers when I talked to a number of customer service reps at Intuit.  

[itonewbie]

George is exactly right.  PTO can e-file returns for taxpayers with foreign addresses.  Our clients are all expats and we've never had any problem e-filing just because the client has a foreign address.

If you subscribe to Docusign or other similar services for F.8879 digital signatures, you should consider an alternative as KBA may not work for your overseas clients.  The simplest solution is probably be to fall back on electronic signatures.  Some client portals do offer digital signatures but you will need to manage KBA differently.

[itonewbie]

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@USTaxfromCanada wrote:

Thank you for confirming as I got different answers when I talked to a number of customer service reps at Intuit.  

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That's the problem with Intuit's Support staff, not all of them are familiar with the software they support.  Often times, you get better, more reliable, and quicker answer here.  See my other response for our experience.

[USTaxfromCanada]

Thank you for your responses!  When you are referring to electronic signatures, I assume you mean: e-mailing a PDF the Form 8879 to the client, the client provides a hand-signature on the form, and then PDFs the executed copy back to you via e-mail?  Then you keep those signed forms on file. 

Yes, I looked into DocuSign and I don't think it will work for the KBA for foreign clients...

One more question, I was told ProConnect does not offer e-filing for 2016 and 2017 (only current year and two years prior).  I have to file individual tax returns for a client for tax years 2016 - 2020, do you have another Intuit software that would allow me to e-file (maybe ProSeries/Lacerte) for all tax years?  

[sjrcpa]

IRS cutoff efiling for 2017 individual returns last month. 2016 was cutoff in November 2019.

There is no software that will efile 2016 and 2017 individual tax returns any more.

[abctax55]

@USTaxfromCanada 

"...do you have another Intuit software"

Just an FYI  - *we* are not Intuit, or Intuit support, or Intuit employees (with the exception of a few employees that stop by periodically - and they are so identified).

We are just fellow software users.

[itonewbie]

"When you are referring to electronic signatures, I assume you mean: e-mailing a PDF the Form 8879 to the client, the client provides a hand-signature on the form, and then PDFs the executed copy back to you via e-mail?  Then you keep those signed forms on file."

That's one way to do it.  Just make sure these are exchanged encrypted, either over your client portal or email.

[puravidapto]

While it is possible to use foreign address, the foreign telephone numbers represent a problem. Is it the software or IRS? I just enter as many as allowed digits in work number, and the rest in extension. How do others do it?

[sjrcpa]

I enter my US office phone number.

[itonewbie]

We do not generally include our clients' email address or phone number on the return unless it's one of those states that require them.  Even then, we end up leaving out digits where these phone numbers have more than 10 digits.  We have to do that even with our phone number since we are based overseas.  That will not make any difference - I've never in my career in expat tax (for longer than I care to count) known the IRS or state DoR calling taxpayers overseas.

First and foremost, it's a formatting issue in Intuit's programs and they do not care to fix it even though there is no lack of complaint from me and others.

TBH, even the IRS' system is not well set up to deal with foreign contact details.  The IRS' PTIN service is able to accommodate foreign addresses and phone numbers.  However, when it comes to the filing system, they don't do so well.  More likely than not, clients' foreign addresses are truncated on the IRS' system and that is one of the most common causes for verification failure.

[USTaxfromCanada]

I tried efiling an 1120-F now that the IRS portal is open this morning with a foreign address and it got rejected due to the foreign postal code.  The customer representative said the only way around this was to remove the letters in the postal code for the foreign client and then add two zeros.  For a Canadian postal code, for example, T2P 3T7 should be changed to 23700 and I should be able to e-file if I modify the postal code to match the US zip code format. 

Before I do that, does anyone else have experience with e-filing without a five digit zipcode?  Thank you in advance!

[itonewbie]

Perhaps an obvious question: If this is your client's address, did you check the box for "Foreign Address?" so that you can enter the foreign address linked to a foreign country and without restrictions on the postal code format?

[USTaxfromCanada]

Yes I did

[itonewbie]

Did you get a critical diagnostic before filing?  If so, what is the exact message?

If not, what is the exact message you received for the rejection?

[USTaxfromCanada]

E-file Transmission Failure

Extended attribute 'zipCode' incorrectly formatted. Value='237' Regex is '^((\d{5})-(\d{4}))|(\d{5})$' Please verify that your application program is up-to-date. Problem occurred transmitting efile data

[itonewbie]

Can you also pinpoint the screen on which the address and Canadian postal code are entered?

[USTaxfromCanada]

Input Data > General > Client Information > Address and Telephone > Clicked the box "Foreign Address?" > inputted Street Address, City, Region, Postal Code, Country and Telephone Number

Thank you!

[itonewbie]

It looks like this may have been caused by a transcription error on Intuit's part.  I would have asked you to include the postal code with your input for region (probably Alberta) and leave the postal code blank but missing a postal code will trigger a critical diagnostic.

In the first instance, you may like to try omitting the space in the postal code and see if that helps.  If not, I'd enter "Alberta T2P 3T7" as the region and "00000" as the postal code, which is not ideal.

If you end up going with the alternative, there's no guarantee it will work 100% because the IRS' system is suppose to transcribe Albert with postal codes beginning with T in Canada into XA.  "Alberta T2P 3T7" may be invalidated by MeF because it wouldn't know how to process it.

There's no perfect solution here but by including the postal code with Alberta, that's the best chance of preserving the address to ensure correspondence from the IRS will get to your client.  Hopefully, stripping off the space in the postal code and making it T2P3T7 will solve your problem.

Please let us know how it goes.  Good luck!

[USTaxfromCanada]

Thanks so much for your helpful tips!!!  I have included the postal code after the province in the "region" tab as suggested.  

I have sucessfully e-filed two ways:

1.  I have successfully e-filed a return with the postal code 23700 (dropped letters in postal code and added two zeros as suggested by the ProConnect customer representative.

2.  I also have successfully e-filed a return with the postal code 00000 for another client per your suggestion.

So, it looks like both are "valid" options going forward...my preference would be to put 00000.

Thanks again!

[itonewbie]

NP, @USTaxfromCanada!  Have a great weekend ahead.

[gmeeks]

when checking client return my one of my errors was my efin address shows foreign and in looking at it, it has Henderson NV, TX when it is just Henderson and it is showing me no where to edit it. Can anyone help me out

[Intuitjhaze]

hi @gmeeks were you able to resolve your efin address issue? if not, please reach out again and we can look into this for you.