Original corporate e-file mandate.

• Author: Dolan, Michael P.

Last year, taxpayers with assets of $50 million or more that filed Form 1120 or 1120S, and also filed 250 "other" returns, were required to e-file their corporate income tax forms. (The 250 "other" returns include income, excise and employment taxes, and information returns such as Forms W-2 and 1099.) Taxpayers covered by the mandate used Modernized E-File (MeF), a new IRS filing program, which requires all taxpayers to submit their return data via a single extensible-markup-language (XML)-based electronic transmission.

Many taxpayers found it a challenge to change from traditional return preparation processes to the new e-filing environment. Corporate tax return preparation has always involved retrieving data from multiple sources and systems within a company. Assembling the actual return usually entailed melding data from several separate systems, some derived from return preparation software and some delivered on spreadsheets, Word documents or third-party transaction documents.

The new IRS system requires that all return data (regardless of source) be translated into XML format. Taxpayers may have to modify their internal work processes to ensure that data from their international operations, asset management systems or investment portfolios correctly finds its way into their chosen return preparation software.

Phase one successful: The first phase of the Service's corporate electronic mandate was deemed a success. Over 500,000 Forms 1120 and 1120S were processed by the MeF system Last year, with mandated returns accounting for 14,000 of the total. Much of the initial success can be traced to the IRS's active engagement of affected taxpayers, return preparers, software vendors and practitioner groups. The AICPA's IRS...