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On December 11, 2020, the IRS announced that it was extending until June 30, 2021, the date through which it will accept e-signatures on certain tax forms that cannot be electronically filed. The IRS had previously announced in several memos that it was accepting e-signatures on specified forms through the end of 2020 (see Tax Alert 2020-2206).

In its most recent memo, the IRS said it would accept electronic or digital signatures for the following forms (no specific technology is required for e-signing the forms), so long as they are signed and postmarked by June 30, 2021:

• Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method
• Form 8832, Entity Classification Election
• Form 8802, Application for U.S. Residency Certification
• Form 1066, U.S. Income Tax Return for Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit
• Form 706, U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return
• Form 706-NA, U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return
• Form 709, U.S. Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return
• Form 1120-ND, Return for Nuclear Decommissioning Funds and Certain Related Persons
• Form 1120-RIC, U.S. Income Tax Return for Regulated Investment Companies
• Form 1120-C, U.S. Income Tax Return for Cooperative Associations
• Form 1120-REIT, U.S. Income Tax Return for Real Estate Investment Trusts
• Form 1120-L, U.S. Life Insurance Company Income Tax Return
• Form 1120-PC, U.S. Property and Casualty Insurance Company Income Tax Return
• Form 1128, Application to Adopt, Change or Retain a Tax Year (newly added to the list for 2021)
• 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 8453 series, Form 8878 series, and Form 8879 series regarding IRS e-file Signature Authorization Forms
• Form 8038 series, pertaining to tax-exempt bonds (newly added to the list for 2021)

Implications

This marks the third extension of COVID-19-related relief procedures issued by the IRS in the past month. On December 1, 2020, the IRS issued a memo extending to June 30, 2021, the period during which it will accept e-signatures on specified non-return documents, including extensions of the statute of limitations on assessment or collection, waivers of statutory notices of deficiency and consents to assessment, closing agreements, and "any other statement or form needing the signature of a taxpayer or representative traditionally collected by IRS personnel outside of standard filing procedures." On December 9, 2020, the Large Business & International Division similarly announced that it would be extending until June 30, 2021, the authorization for its employees to deviate from the standard Information Document Request (IDR) enforcement procedures when taxpayers are unable to timely respond to IDRs due to COVID-19.

Notwithstanding this relief, not all IRS COVID-19-related relief is expected to be extended through June 2021. Most notably, the temporary fax procedures established by the IRS for the submission of CARES Act-related Forms 1139 and 1045 will no longer be operational after midnight on December 31, 2020 (see Tax Alert 2020-1195). In light of the IRS's considerable backlog of unopened mail and unprocessed paper-filed returns, taxpayers looking to file Forms 1139 or 1045 in the near future may want to take advantage of the faxing procedures while they are still available. Other IRS temporary fax procedures — such as those for the submission of Form 8918, Material Advisor Disclosure Statement; Form 8886, Reportable Transaction Disclosure Statement; and certain Forms 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method — remain available until further notice.

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