The following was sent out by the IRS Core team:
This filing season 2018; taxpayers using volunteer sites will need consent annually on whether they want their tax return information accessible to all sites participating in the VITA/TCE program. A taxpayer who consents will be able to visit any volunteer site in the subsequent year and the site will be able to populate the return with data from the prior year. This is a two-year process.
Based on IRC 7216, if the return preparer is entering the consent PIN and date into the tax preparation software the taxpayer must sign and date a paper consent form before entering the consent PIN and date into the tax preparation software. The site may give the signed paper consent form to the taxpayer or maintain at the site. Whether the signed copy is given to the taxpayer or maintained at the site, a copy of the consent in the tax preparation software with the PIN must be provided to the taxpayer for his/her records.
Many taxpayers do not want to enter their own PIN, so we have been asked about guidance for paper consents to ensure sites are compliance. Attached is the consent form approved by Counsel with the mandatory language for a paper Global Carry Forward consent based on IRC 7216. Use of this paper consent is only required for sites when the return preparer is entering the Global Carry Forward consent PIN on behalf of the taxpayer.
Blog Posted 01/17/2018 3:42 pm eastern