QuickAlerts August 2011
August 2, 2011 - MeF Business e-file Updates - Form Family 1120
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs. The following Tax Year 2011 and Tax Year 2010 files have been posted on IRS.gov:
- 1120/1120F/1120S XML Schemas and Business Rules: 2011v1.0
- 7004 XML Schemas and Business Rules: 2011v1.0
- Forms and Attachments Listing: efileAttachments.xsd (This Schema must be used for any supported Tax Year)
- Known Issues and Solutions Update
Questions or comments may be directed to the e-help Desk at 1-866-255-0654.
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August 2, 2011 - Form W-2 Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN)
ATTN: Individual (IMF) Participants - Modernized Electronic Filing (MeF) Transmitters, Software Developers, EROs, and States.
For TY2011, the Internal Revenue Service will require the manual key entry of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) as it appears on Form W-2 received from the employer for all taxpayers with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) who are reporting wages.
No software package should utilize the auto-population feature regardless of the presence of an override feature to populate the TIN on the Form W-2 for these ITIN filers. Per IRS Revenue Procedure 2007-40, failure to comply with this requirement could result in a written reprimand, suspension or expulsion from the e-file program.
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August 4, 2011 - MeF Individual e-file Updates - Form Family 1040
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters, States and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs. Tax Year 2011 Schemas and Business Rules files have been posted on IRS.gov:
The first set of Tax Year 2011 Schemas and Business Rules for the 1040 Modernized e-File (MeF) program have posted to IRS.gov. These schemas and business rules will not be implemented in the MeF ATS or Production environments. We are continuing to make updates to the schemas and business rules for Tax Year 2011 changes.
The next set of schemas and business rules will be available for ATS and Production and they are scheduled to post to IRS.gov on 09/13/2011. MeF ATS will open on 10/31/2011 and Production will open in January 2012.
Some changes that you will see in subsequent 1040 MeF packages:
- Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses will be removed from the schema packages. MeF will not be adding this form in Processing Year 2012.
- Form 8854, Initial and Annual Expatriation Information Statement will be removed from the schema packages. MeF will not be adding this form to the 1040 package.
- Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit will be adjusted to include only Parts III, IV and V of the Form. Parts I and II will not be available in MeF.
Please note that MeF will only allow Form 8938, Statement of Foreign Financial Assets as a PDF for both the 1040 MeF Program and the Business MeF Programs for Processing Year 2012. Form 8938 will not be available in XML in MeF for Processing Year 2012.
If you have any questions, please send them to our new MeF Mailbox - MeFMailbox@IRS.gov.
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August 10, 2011 - 1065/1065-B Business Rules and Schemas for Tax Year 2011
The Tax Year 2011v1.0 draft XML Schemas and Business Rules for Forms 1065 and 1065-B have been posted on IRS.gov.
You can access the new files from the "Valid XML Schemas and Business Rules for 1065/1065-B Modernized e-file" site.
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August 23, 2011 - EMS Annual Labor Day Power Outage in Martinsburg, West Virginia
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs.
The Electronic Management System (EMS) located at Martinsburg, West Virginia will be unavailable from Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time through Tuesday, September 6 at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
There will be no drains on Monday, September 5 due to the Labor Day Holiday.
When services are resumed, all processing will occur and acknowledgement files will be available based on the established drain schedule. These systems will not be available due to a scheduled power outage over the Labor Day Holiday weekend.
We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
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August 26, 2011 - Scheduled Modernized e-File (MeF) Production and Assurance Testing System (ATS) Downtime
The MeF system will be down from 12:00 pm, Eastern on Saturday, September 3rd until 5:00 am, Eastern on Tuesday, September 6th (Labor Day weekend).
A routine system maintenance build and the annual power outage used by the IRS to perform critical operation and maintenance programs, to enhance building infrastructure and to upgrade various computer systems is scheduled to occur during this time.
The Modernized e-File systems (both Production and ATS) will not be operational during this timeframe. Please refrain from accessing the MeF Production or Assurance Testing Systems to transmit business/individual tax returns, retrieve acknowledgements or submit any other service requests.
Please Note: The next tentatively scheduled power outage takes place during Columbus Day weekend from 9:00 pm, Eastern on Saturday, October 8th until 5:00 am, Eastern on Tuesday, October 11th.
We apologize in advance for any inconvenience caused. Please check the MeF Status Page for updates.
