The table
| Document | Electronic signature accepted? | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Form W-9 (collected from a U.S. payee) | Yes, through the requester's own electronic system | Requester instructions: the system must authenticate the payee, capture the same information as the paper form, end with an electronic signature under penalties of perjury, and produce a hard copy on request |
| Forms W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E, W-8ECI, W-8EXP, W-8IMY (collected from a foreign payee) | Yes | Treas. Reg. 1.1441-1(e)(4)(i)(B) and the form instructions: the form must show it was electronically signed by the named person, for example a time and date stamp and a statement that it was electronically signed |
| Form 8655, Reporting Agent Authorization | Yes | Approved methods: "Selecting a checkbox on an electronic device such as a computer or tablet" and "Using a stylus device" (Exhibit 10.10.1-1) |
| Form 2678, Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent | Yes, electronic or digital | On the deviation list for forms signed and postmarked on or after August 28, 2020; "No specific technology is required" (Exhibit 10.10.1-2) |
| Form 8973, CPEO/Customer Reporting Agreement | Yes, electronic or digital | Same deviation list |
| Form 8832, Entity Classification Election | Yes, electronic or digital | Same deviation list |
| Forms 2848 and 8821 (on paper or by fax) | No, except through Taxpayer Digital Communications | IRM 21.3.7.5.1: "An electronically signed, printed or stamped signature is not acceptable" outside TDC; the online submission tool is the electronic route |
| Form 945, 940, 941, 943, 944 (e-filed) | Yes, by PIN | "Inputting a PIN" is the approved method (Exhibit 10.10.1-1); the three PIN methods are below |
| Form 1042 (e-filed) | Yes, by PIN | Added to Exhibit 10.10.1-1 in the 2024 revision "to capture e-File capability" |
| Form 4506-T | Yes | PIN or stylus (Exhibit 10.10.1-1) |
| Reasonable-cause statement, 972CG response, B-Notice correspondence, Form 843 cover letter, replies in an examination | Yes, as a scanned or photographed signature, or a digital signature through secure messaging | IRM 10.10.1.6.1, for campus compliance cases worked in response to an IRS solicitation and for person-to-person casework |
| Form 843 itself, Form 8809, Form 8508 and other forms with their own filing instructions | Follow the form | "Tax returns must be filed in accordance with the instructions for the respective form" (IRM 10.10.1.6.1); Forms 8809 and 8508 are filed online or on paper under their own instructions |
Forms you collect from payees
The W-9 and W-8 rules are not in IRM 10.10.1 at all; they belong to the forms. For the W-9 the requester instructions permit an electronic system that produces "the same information as the paper Form W-9," authenticates the person signing, and ends with "an electronic signature by the payee whose name is on Form W-9 that authenticates and verifies the submission," under the same penalties-of-perjury statement; the requester must be able to "supply a hard copy of the electronic Form W-9 if the Internal Revenue Service requests it." A faxed W-9 is accepted. The full solicitation rules, including what a defective W-9 does to your reasonable-cause position, are on W-9 solicitation rules.
For the W-8 series the regulation allows an electronic signature if the form "includes a reasonable demonstration" that it was signed by the person named, and the instructions give the example of "a time and date stamp and statement that the form has been electronically signed." A typed name with nothing else is the common failure. A vendor portal that captures the W-8BEN-E, stamps it and records the signer satisfies the rule; an emailed PDF with a typed name does not, and the payer that relies on it has a documentation problem under the chapter 3 rules.
Authorizations: Forms 8655, 2678, 8973, 2848 and 8821
Form 8655, the authorization a reporting agent needs before it may sign and file your Form 945, is one of the few forms with named electronic methods: a checkbox on a device, or a stylus. That is why payroll providers can collect it inside their onboarding flow. What the 8655 does and does not authorize, and the 5-digit PIN it unlocks for the agent, is on reporting agents and payroll providers. Form 2678, the agent appointment under IRC 3504, and Form 8973, the certified PEO agreement, are on the deviation list: any electronic or digital signature, no particular technology, for forms signed and postmarked on or after August 28, 2020 (IRM 10.10.1.6.2, Nov. 18, 2021; Exhibit 10.10.1-2). The manual notes the deviation lasts until the form can be e-filed or signed under the full policy.
Forms 2848 and 8821 are the exception that catches people. The CAF unit that processes them applies its own chapter, which rejects electronic, printed or stamped signatures on paper and faxed forms unless the signature came through the IRS's Taxpayer Digital Communications platform; the details and the 45-day signature-date rule are on what makes a Form 2848 or 8821 unprocessable. The IRS's online submission tool for those forms is the electronic path.
The returns: Forms 945, 1042 and the 94x PINs
An e-filed Form 945 is signed by PIN, and there are three kinds: the reporting agent's 5-digit PIN issued after the 8655 is on file, the practitioner PIN with your signed Form 8879-EMP, and the 94x On-Line Signature PIN issued only to an owner or principal, which a provider, POA or payroll company may not hold (IRM 3.42.4.11.2 and following, Jan. 1, 2024; the rules are on Form 945 inside the IRS). Form 1042 was added to the approved-PIN list in the 2024 revision of the e-signature manual when it became e-fileable. A paper Form 945 is a different matter: the campus accepts a signature "printed, typed, rubber stamped, computer generated, or affixed by some other mechanical device" under Rev. Proc. 2005-39, which is a paper rule, not an e-signature rule.
Letters and penalty responses
For documents exchanged during a compliance case, images count. "Employees may accept images of signatures and digital signatures on documents related to the determination or collection of a tax liability or to the settlement of tax controversies," where the case is one of "Authenticated, recurring interactions of IRS personnel working person-to-person with taxpayers" or "Campus compliance cases worked in response to a solicitation from the IRS (e.g., campus exam, automated underreporter, and campus collection)." Acceptable are "Images of documents with original signatures (scanned or photographed) in any common file type such as JPEG, TIFF, PDF, etc." and "Digital signatures that use encryption techniques that provide proof of original and unmodified documentation when transmitted by an approved secure messaging or file transfer system" (IRM 10.10.1.6.1, Aug. 12, 2024).
A response to a Notice 972CG, a CP2100 reply, a reasonable-cause statement sent with a Form 843, a protest to Appeals, and the documents exchanged with a revenue agent or officer all fall inside that description. The manual's conditions are that campus staff "must ensure the document is the result of a solicitation from the IRS (e.g., response to a letter or notice mailed to the taxpayer)," and that person-to-person staff authenticate the signer by phone or in person. A signed PDF, scanned or photographed, is enough; so is a digitally signed document sent through IRS secure messaging. What the IRS does with the response once it arrives is on what happens to your letter at the IRS.
The same subsection draws the line at returns: "Tax returns must be filed in accordance with the instructions for the respective form." A scanned signature on a reasonable-cause letter is accepted; a scanned signature on a paper Form 945 is governed by the Form 945 rules, not by this policy.
What the IRS means by a legally binding e-signature
Outside the approved methods and the deviations, IRM 10.10.1.3.1 sets the general requirements for an electronic signature the IRS treats as binding: the signer's identity must be authenticated, the signer must intend to sign, the signature must be attached to or logically associated with the record, and the record must be kept so that it can be produced. The policy states the effect plainly: a document "signed using the permitted electronic signing process will be treated for all purposes (both civil and criminal, including penalties for perjury) in the same manner as though signed with a handwritten signature" (IRM 10.10.1.6.3, Oct. 17, 2023). The W-9 and W-8 systems a payer builds are, in effect, private versions of the same test, which is why the form instructions ask for authentication, intent (the perjury statement) and a producible copy.
Questions people ask
Can a vendor sign the W-9 in DocuSign?
Yes, if your process authenticates the signer, presents the same certification as the paper form under penalties of perjury, and lets you produce a copy on request. The requester instructions set those conditions; the IRS e-signature manual is not the source.
A foreign vendor typed their name on a W-8BEN-E PDF. Is that signed?
Not under the regulation. The form has to show it was electronically signed by the named person, for example with a time and date stamp and a statement to that effect. Ask for the form through a system that records that, or a handwritten signature.
Can we scan and email our signed 972CG response?
Yes. A response to an IRS notice is a campus compliance case worked in response to an IRS solicitation, and the manual accepts images of original signatures on such documents. Send it the way the notice directs; email is not usually one of the ways.
Our payroll company e-signed the Form 8655 on our behalf. Is that valid?
The electronic methods for Form 8655 exist so the taxpayer can sign it electronically. The signature must be the taxpayer's; the agent cannot sign its own authorization.
Why was our electronically signed Form 2848 rejected?
Because the CAF unit accepts electronic signatures only through the IRS's own digital platform. A 2848 e-signed elsewhere and faxed in is rejected under IRM 21.3.7.