A small firm workflow for Form 8878 before you transmit a Form 4868 extension

This page is general information, not legal advice. About Form 8878, the current Form 8878 PDF, and About Form 4868 are the texts to read. Have counsel review your authorization process before you treat this as the firm's process. This page does not invent payment or balance due rules beyond those pages.

Complete Form 8878 when Form 4868 is filed using the Practitioner PIN method, or when the taxpayer authorizes the electronic return originator (ERO) to enter or generate the taxpayer's PIN on Form 4868 or Form 2350. (About Form 8878)

Form 8878 is not an application for an extension of time to file. Taxpayers must file Form 4868 or Form 2350. A U.S. citizen or resident files Form 4868 to request an automatic extension of time to file a U.S. individual income tax return. (Form 8878 PDF, About Form 4868)

Specified tax return preparers who reasonably expect to file 11 or more covered individual, trust, or estate income tax returns in a calendar year are required to file those covered returns electronically, with the exceptions on that FAQ. That mandate is not a reason to skip Form 8878 on an extension you actually file electronically. (Efile mandate FAQ)

You must receive the completed and signed Form 8878 from the taxpayer before the application for extension of time to file is transmitted or released for transmission. The ERO completes the name and SSN fields, completes Part I from the extension form, and gives Form 8878 to the taxpayer by hand delivery, U.S. mail, private delivery service, email, Internet website, or fax. The taxpayer verifies the prepared extension, checks the box that either authorizes the ERO to enter or generate the PIN or states that the taxpayer will enter it, and signs and dates the form. The PIN must be five digits other than all zeros. Taxpayers may sign by handwritten signature, or by electronic signature if the computer software supports it. (Form 8878 PDF)

Part I copies information from the extension form. For Form 4868 that includes the amount the taxpayer is paying from Form 4868, line 7. Confirm identity before you treat the signature as done. For a joint Form 4868, one spouse may authorize the ERO to enter that spouse's PIN while the other spouse enters their own. It is not acceptable for a taxpayer to select or enter the PIN of an absent spouse. If the extension form changes after the first signature, give the taxpayer a corrected Form 8878 before you transmit. (Form 8878 PDF)

• Legal name and SSN on Form 8878 match the Form 4868 you are about to transmit.
• You checked only one box in Part I: Form 4868 or Form 2350.
• The amount in Part I matches Form 4868, line 7 on this extension, not an earlier draft.
• Signed Form 8878 is in the file before anyone clicks transmit.
• Part III is complete if you used the Practitioner PIN method for Form 4868.

Do not send Form 8878 to the IRS unless the IRS asks for it. Retain the completed Form 8878 for 3 years from the return due date or the IRS received date, whichever is later. Form 8878 may be retained electronically under the recordkeeping guidelines in Rev. Proc. 97-22. After filing, enter the 20 digit Submission Identification Number assigned to the extension, or associate Form 9325 with Form 8878. (Form 8878 PDF)

Put the signed Form 8878, the SID or Form 9325, and the Form 4868 in one client folder. How that sits on the season board is the CPA firm tax season workflow. Tools can draft a chase for a missing signature. They do not prepare, file, or sign the extension. Your CPA reviews and signs every return.

One row per client, tax year, and extension. Duplicate a row if the extension changed and you collected a corrected Form 8878.

• Form 8878 versus Form 8879 is decided before anyone sends a signature request.
• If the chart requires Form 8878, the signed form is in the file before transmit.
• Part I amounts match this Form 4868.
• Do not transmit on a signature that belongs to a prior draft.

Download the Form 8878 versus Form 8879 decision table and extension auth tracker. The tax season operator can draft the chase when a signed Form 8878 is still missing. Your staff approve what goes out. Your CPA reviews and signs every return.