A first waiver request is granted automatically under the current Form 8508; a repeat request needs a justification, and an undue-hardship request needs two current third-party cost estimates or it is denied without review. This is the attachment, with the grounds the form lists and the estimate table. Read it below, copy the text, print it, or download the .docx for your letterhead.
Template from tincompliance.com. The justification that accompanies Form 8508 (Rev. 9-2026), Application for a Waiver from Electronic Filing of Information Returns. Under the current form a filer’s first waiver request for a form type is granted automatically (block 8, "Yes", skip to the signature); a repeat request needs the justification below. A request based on undue financial hardship must attach two current cost estimates from service bureaus or other third parties for preparing the electronic files, or it is denied without review; estimates from prior years and estimates for anything other than electronic file preparation are not accepted. File at least 45 days before the due date of the returns; the IRS processes waivers after January 1 of the year the returns are due. One Form 8508 per TIN.
Issuer: [legal name], TIN [00-0000000]
Forms and counts (block 5): [1099-NEC: n; 1099-MISC: n; W-2: n]
Tax year (block 1a): [YYYY] Original / Reconsideration: [ ] Corrections only: [yes / no]
Date: [date]
[Check one and delete the others:]
☐ Undue financial hardship: the cost of filing electronically exceeds the cost of filing on paper. Two current cost estimates are entered in block 9 and attached.
☐ Business suffered a catastrophic event in a federally declared disaster area that made the business unable to resume operations or made necessary records unavailable.
☐ Fire, casualty, or natural disaster affected the operation of the business.
☐ Death, serious illness, or unavoidable absence of the individual responsible for filing the information returns affected the operation of the business.
☐ Business was in its first year of establishment.
☐ Foreign entity unable to file electronically because software or a third-party provider could not be obtained, or for other reasons outside its control.
Service bureau or third party | Date of estimate | Estimated cost to prepare and file the electronic returns | Attached |
[name, address] | [date] | $[amount] | [yes] |
[name, address] | [date] | $[amount] | [yes] |
Cost of filing the same returns on paper (forms, printing, postage, labor): $[amount]. Basis: [describe].
[State the facts behind the ground checked, with dates: the event, the declaration number, the person and the period of absence, the date the business was established, the software or provider the foreign entity attempted to obtain, or the rejection. For undue hardship, explain why the electronic cost exceeds the paper cost for this filer and this year, and what steps have been taken toward electronic filing for later years.]
I declare that the information on Form 8508 and in this attachment is true, correct, and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
[Signature of the taxpayer or a person authorized to sign returns] [Name], [Title] [Date]
Mail or fax to the address on the form. If the waiver is denied and the returns are filed on paper anyway, the IRS treats each paper return over the 10-return e-file threshold as a failure to file electronically, penalized at the per-return rate; the only cure is to e-file. A rejected e-file at the deadline is the one circumstance the IRS manual treats as an exception when the waiver arrives late.
A general-purpose starting point, not legal advice. Your facts, and your counsel, control what you send.