Employment tax returns lag in e-filing

A low e-filing rate for employment tax returns in the Form 94x series is the biggest obstacle to achieving the goal of 80% electronic filing of all major types of tax returns, the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) said in its 2015 Annual Report to Congress. While individual income tax returns were found to have a projected 86.3% e-filing rate for 2015, for the Form 94x series, the percentage was only 33.3%. Other returns with e-file rates above 80% were for partnerships (81.7%) and fiduciary income tax (81.5%). For corporate tax returns, the rate was 73.8% and for exempt organizations 56.9%. ETAAC said the main barrier to greater e-filing of employment tax returns is not the lack of a free file option (which the IRS has requested comments on) but the e-signature process, which it said should be streamlined. It noted that an IRS working group and “security summit” with external stakeholders are examining e-signature requirements to guard against taxpayer identity theft and said that it would work with those groups.