Common questions about S-Corporation Taxpayer Authentication in Lacerte

The Taxpayer Authentication is available in Screen 3.2, Electronic Filing.
This information is not required for electronically filed returns. However, entering this information will help protect the taxpayer from refund fraud.

Frequently Asked Questions:

The following reference information is provided as guidelines from the Internal Revenue Service to tax professionals with regard to taxpayer authentication.

Q1: Why am I being asked for this information?

In an effort to comply with standards provided by the IRS for electronic filing of returns, these fields were add for taxpayer authentication. They serve to better protect the taxpayer from refund fraud.

Q2: Do I need to enter this information to file my Federal Tax Return?

This information is optional currently at the Federal Tax Return Level. However, some states may require certain elements. For Example, the signing officer has been required in prior years and maybe continued to be.

Q3: Why am I having to enter data twice?

Since this information is now part of most state returns, we have moved it to a more central location. Because of this, we were not able to move the information up from the various state miscellaneous screens as there may be a conflict. This is an inconvenience, but going forward this will be the screen to enter taxpayer authentication information for all complying states.

Additional Information

• IRS Launches More Rigorous e-Authentication Process and Get Transcript Online
• Security During Transmission of MeF Returns Using the Internet