Esignatures for dependent children filing a return

[taxpro2000]

What is the age cutoff for esignature identity verification for a dependent child's return? I have one client with a child age 6...the verification questions required the father to answer as himself, not the child. Another client with a child age 16...the verification questions were specific to the child, not the parent.

[taxpro2000]

I called customer service today & they were no help whatsoever. First, they told me that it would vary & to have the dependent child & parent together when verifying identity...I explained that would not work because if the verification asked about a loan, which the parent had but the dependent child did not, would they answer yes or no? After several minutes of more unhelpful advice, I asked to be transferred to a supervisor (which was not granted). The rep, after another hold, told me that the system would randomly determine whose information to verify & sometimes it would be the parent & sometimes the child. When answering verification questions that does not work, & I find it hard to believe that's how it works. I guess my options are to have one sign without completing the verification or go back to wet signatures. 

[itonewbie]

The answer to this is to have your client sign the F.8879 offline in wet ink on behalf of the minor child with the notation “By _______________ (fill in the blanks), parent for minor child.”  It would be your responsibility to verify the identity of the child (which you should have already done as part of your due d for CTC, etc. in addition to the parents' whose return(s) you prepared).

It's a waste of time asking Intuit Support technical questions because they are not trained in tax.  They are there to help only with the use of software (theoretically anyway /s) - even then, you will almost always get faster and better answers here.

[taxpro2000]

I didn’t think I was asking them for technical tax advice…I’m aware they cannot provide that. I thought I was just asking them how their program works - at what age their program changes from requiring information pertinent to the parent to information pertinent to the child…to me, that is specific to their system, & something technical support should be able to provide. Pub 1345 notes a differentiation (for using self-select PIN, not esignature) between under age 16 & age 16+, so I was thinking the program might use those same age levels.

I’m also aware of the language a parent would use to sign with a wet signature. I had one case using esignature where I had the parent sign & the system asked questions specific to the parent, not the 6yo child, & one where the questions were specific to the 16 yo child, so I assumed it was based on the age & wanted to understand what that age was in the PS system. I've not seen that an esignature is not allowed unless the taxpayer is the one signing. If I understand you, you’re saying only a wet signature is allowed & an esignature is not allowed unless the taxpayer is the one signing the esignature form, correct?

[itonewbie · Accepted solution]

What I'm saying is that I think there is little to no credit report, if any at all, for a minor that DocuSign will be able to pull for verification.  And I speculate that it is unlikely that DocuSign will be able to differentiate an adult not having sufficient credit history vs a minor who just isn't on the record at all, considered they don't have all of the demographic variables of the individual concerned.

E-signature can still be used but you may just need to use an alternative authentication method other than credit report-based KBA.  And you should ensure that the notation “By _______________ (fill in the blanks), parent for minor child" can be added to the signature line.

I may have missed it but where in Pub. 1345 does it mention children under and over the age of 16?

Instead, I'd rely on Treas. Regs. §§1.6061-1 and 1.6012-1(a)(4) for how returns should be filed and signed by or on behalf of minors.

Since §6061(a) authorizes the Treasury Secretary to prescribe regulations which, in turn, refer to instructions issued with respect to such returns, statements, or other documents, I'd take the IRS' instructions as golden.

Given the IRS' instructions for signing minors' returns haven't changed since the beginning of e-filing and e-signature, I would apply the exact same instructions to F.8879.

[taxpro2000]

Good insight. Thank you!