SEE - Special Enrollment Exam Quiz: Electronic Filing And Efin

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Electronic Filing And Efin, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for SEE - Special Enrollment Exam.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

Question 1

1. The LLC must apply for its own EFIN through IRS e-Services, both owners must be listed on the application and pass the suitability check, and the LLC may not e-file until its application is approved. (correct answer)
2. The LLC may rely on the third-party transmitter's EFIN and does not need its own EFIN, because the transmitter is the authorized e-file provider for the returns.
3. The LLC may list only the office manager on its e-file application, and the owners need not be identified or screened because each holds a PTIN.
4. The LLC may e-file immediately under a provisional EFIN and must complete the full application, including fingerprints for the owners, within 45 days.

Question 2

1. E-file the return with the husband's signature only, because either spouse may authorize the e-filing of a joint return.
2. E-file the return if the wife provides her date of birth and prior-year AGI by e-mail, with the EA entering a self-selected PIN for her.
3. E-file the return after the EA signs Form 8879 for the wife and attaches a copy of the wife's e-mail authorization.
4. Wait to transmit until both spouses have signed Form 8879; the wife's e-mail is not a valid signature authorization. (correct answer)

Question 3

1. The Form 8879 may be destroyed on February 10, 2029, because the three-year retention period starts on the date of acceptance.
2. The Form 8879 may be destroyed on April 15, 2032, because the six-year retention period runs from the due date of the return.
3. The Form 8879 may be destroyed on December 31, 2028, because the three-year retention period starts at the end of the tax year.
4. The Form 8879 may be destroyed on April 15, 2029, because the three-year period runs from the later of the due date or the filing date. (correct answer)

Question 4

1. Obtain each client's consent, signed and dated by the client, that names the EA and the client, describes the intended use, and specifies the information to be used. (correct answer)
2. Nothing, because the information came from her own intake questionnaires and will not be disclosed to anyone else.
3. Nothing, as long as each advertisement tells the client how to opt out of future advertisements.
4. Nothing, because each client consented to the use of the information by signing Form 8879 for the e-filed return.

Question 5

1. The firm may use its downtown EFIN for both offices because an EFIN is issued to the firm as a legal entity and is not restricted to a particular location.
2. The firm must obtain a separate EFIN for the second office before e-filing from that location; the transmitter's EFIN does not cover the firm's returns. (correct answer)
3. The second office may e-file under the transmitter's EFIN because the transmitter, rather than the firm, is the authorized IRS e-file provider for the returns it submits.
4. Each individual preparer assigned to the second office must obtain a separate EFIN before the office may transmit returns to the IRS.

Question 6

1. She must e-file all 24 returns because the federal e-file mandate counts every return a preparer prepares, whether or not it is prepared for compensation.
2. She must e-file the 15 VITA returns because that group by itself exceeds the 10-return threshold, but she may paper-file the nine paid returns because they are fewer than 10.
3. She is not required to e-file the nine paid returns because only returns prepared for compensation count toward the 10-return threshold, and the VITA returns are excluded. (correct answer)
4. She must e-file the nine paid returns because the federal e-file mandate applies to all enrolled agents regardless of the number of returns they expect to file.

Question 7

1. The return is treated as timely filed, because the rejected return was submitted before the due date and the corrected return was resubmitted by the fifth calendar day after the due date. (correct answer)
2. The return is considered filed on April 16, 2026, the date the IRS accepted the corrected return, so the return is late and penalties may apply absent reasonable cause.
3. The return is timely only because the EA retransmitted it within 24 hours of the rejection; a retransmission more than 24 hours after the rejection would make it late.
4. The return is late unless the taxpayer also files a paper return, with an explanation, within ten calendar days after the IRS's rejection notice.

Question 8

1. Transmit the return because the wife's PIN, together with the recorded oral consent, is an acceptable electronic signature.
2. Do not e-file; instead file a paper return with the husband's signature and a note attached indicating the wife's PIN.
3. Transmit the return and attach a signed statement to Form 8453 explaining that the wife was unavailable to sign.
4. Do not transmit until the wife has signed Form 8879; both spouses must sign the authorization before the return is submitted. (correct answer)

Question 9

1. The return is timely, because a rejected return submitted by the due date is timely if it is corrected and resubmitted by the fifth calendar day after the due date. (correct answer)
2. The return is considered timely filed only if the taxpayer attaches to the resubmitted return an explanation of the rejection; otherwise the April 20 acceptance date is the filing date.
3. The return is late, because a rejected e-file return is not considered filed until the IRS accepts a corrected transmission, and the acceptance on April 20 came after the April 15, 2026, due date.
4. The return is late, because the five-day period for resubmitting a rejected return runs from the original transmission date, and April 20 is more than five days after April 14.

Question 10

1. Form 8878 authorizes an IRS e-file signature for an electronically filed extension (Form 4868 or Form 2350), while Form 8879 authorizes an IRS e-file signature for an original individual income tax return. (correct answer)
2. Form 8878 authorizes a third-party designee to discuss an electronically filed return with the IRS, while Form 8879 is used to revoke an IRS e-file authorization.
3. Form 8878 is the consent form for disclosure of taxpayer information to a third party, while Form 8879 is the IRS e-file application form submitted by an electronic return originator.
4. Form 8878 authorizes an IRS e-file signature for an original individual income tax return, while Form 8879 is the consent form for disclosure of taxpayer information to a third party.

Question 11

1. The ERO must mail the signed Form 8879 to the IRS no later than the later of the due date of the return or the date the return was accepted.
2. The ERO must include the signed Form 8879 in the e-file transmission immediately after the IRS accepts the original return.
3. The taxpayer must attach Form 8879 to the copy of the return kept for the taxpayer's records so the IRS can verify the e-file signature.
4. The ERO must retain the signed Form 8879 for three years after the later of the due date of the return or the date it was filed and must provide it to the IRS on request. (correct answer)

Question 12

1. An ERO's approval includes the authority to transmit returns directly, so the firm does not need any additional approval.
2. The firm must be approved as a transmitter to transmit directly, or it may arrange for an approved transmitter to submit the returns. (correct answer)
3. The firm may transmit directly if it uses e-file software that has passed IRS software testing, even though it is not an approved transmitter.
4. The firm must obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number for the firm and use it in place of an EFIN for direct transmissions.

Question 13

1. An EFIN is assigned to an individual preparer and follows that preparer if he or she moves to a different firm with the same PTIN.
2. An EFIN is not transferable, and a new owner of a firm must submit an IRS e-file application and obtain a new EFIN. (correct answer)
3. An EFIN may be transferred to a new owner with IRS approval if the new owner agrees in writing to assume all e-file obligations.
4. An EFIN may be used by any employee of the approved firm at any office location once the IRS accepts the e-file application.

Question 14

1. The return was properly e-filed because the client signed Form 8879 before transmission and the EA used the practitioner PIN method approved for IRS e-file.
2. The return was properly e-filed because the EA's review of the completed return before transmitting it satisfies the taxpayer signature authorization requirement under the e-file rules.
3. The return was not properly e-filed because the client must sign Form 8879 after reviewing the completed return, and a change after signing that exceeds the Pub. 1345 tolerances requires a new Form 8879. (correct answer)
4. The return was not properly e-filed because Form 8879 must be mailed to the IRS with the client's original signature before the IRS will accept an e-filed return.