SECTION 7. FORM 8453, U.S.

INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC FILING

.01 Procedures for Completing Form 8453. (1) Form 8453 must be completed in accordance with the instructions for Form 8453.

(2) The taxpayer(s)’s name, address, social security number(s), tax return information, and direct deposit of refund information in the electronic transmission must be identical to the information on the Form 8453 that the taxpayer(s) signed and provided for submission to the Service.

(3) An Electronic Filer, a financial institution, or any other entity associated with the electronic filing of a taxpayer’s return must not put its address in the section reserved for the taxpayer’s address on Form 8453 or anywhere in the electronic portion of a return.

(4) After the return has been prepared and before the return is electronically transmitted, the taxpayer must verify the information on the electronic portion of the return and on Form 8453, and must sign Form 8453. The taxpayer may verify the information on the electronic portion of the return by viewing this information on a computer display terminal. Both spouses’ signatures are required on a joint return prior to the electronic transmission of the tax return. An easily readable paper copy of the prepared return must be provided to the taxpayer at the time of signature.

(5) An Electronic Filer must submit the taxpayer’s Form 8453 to the appropriate service center within one work day after the Electronic Filer receives acknowledgment that the electronic portion of the taxpayer’s return has been accepted for processing.

(6) If an Electronic Filer functions as an ERO, the Electronic Filer must sign the ERO’s Declaration on Form 8453.

(7) If the ERO is also the paid preparer, the ERO must check the ‘‘Paid Preparer’’ box and sign the ERO Declaration on Form 8453.

.02 Corrections to Form 8453. (1) A new Form 8453 is not required for a nonsubstantive change. A nonsubstantive change is limited to a correction that does not exceed the tolerances, described in section 7.02(2) of this revenue procedure for arithmetic errors, a transposition error, a mis

.02 Any entity that is involved in the Electronic Filing Program, including a financial institution that accepts direct deposits of income tax refunds, has an obligation to every taxpayer who applies for a RAL to clearly explain to the taxpayer that a RAL is in fact a loan, and not a substitute for or a quicker way of receiving an income tax refund. An Electronic Filer must advise the taxpayer that if a Direct Deposit is not timely, the taxpayer may be liable to the lender for additional interest on the RAL.

.03 An Electronic Filer may assist a taxpayer in applying for a RAL.

.04 An Electronic Filer may charge a flat fee to assist a taxpayer in applying for a RAL. The fee must be identical for all of the Electronic Filer’s customers and must not be related to the amount of the refund or a RAL. The Electronic Filer must not accept a fee from a financial institution for any service connected with a RAL that is contingent upon the amount of the refund or a RAL.

.05 The Service has no responsibility for the payment of any fees associated with the preparation of a return, the electronic transmission of a return, or a RAL.

.06 An Electronic Filer may disclose tax information to the lending financial institution in connection with an application for a RAL only with the taxpayer’s written consent as specified in § 301.7216–3(b).

.07 An Electronic Filer that is also the return preparer, and the financial institution or other lender that makes an RAL, may not be related taxpayers within the meaning of § 267 or § 707.

.08 Section 6695(f) imposes a $500 penalty on a return preparer who endorses or negotiates a refund check issued to any taxpayer other than the return preparer. However, a bank, as defined in § 581, may accept the full amount of a refund check as a deposit in the taxpayer’s account for the benefit of the taxpayer. Section 1.6695–1(f) clarifies § 6695 of the Code by explaining that the prohibition on a return preparer negotiating a refund check is limited to a refund check for a return that the return preparer prepared. A preparer that is also a financial institution, but has not made a loan to the taxpayer on the basis of the taxpayer’s anticipated refund, may (1) cash a refund check and remit all of the cash to the

.03 The ERO must advise the taxpayer that an amended return, if needed, must be filed as a paper return and mailed to the service center that would handle the taxpayer’s paper return.

.04 The ERO must, upon request, provide the taxpayer with the Document Control Number and the date the electronic portion of the taxpayer’s return was acknowledged as accepted for processing by the Service.

.05 If a taxpayer inquires about the status of a tax return, the ERO must advise the taxpayer to call the local IRS district office Tele-Tax number. The ERO should also advise the taxpayer to wait at least three weeks from the acceptance date of the electronic return before calling the local IRS district office Tele-Tax number.

.06 If a taxpayer chooses to use an address other than his or her home address on the return, the Electronic Filer must inform the taxpayer that the address on the return will become the taxpayer’s ‘‘last known address’’ for all purposes of the Internal Revenue Code. This means that all future written communications from the Service to the taxpayer will be sent to the address on the return rather than the taxpayer’s home address. In particular, the Service is required to send the following notices to a taxpayer’s ‘‘last known address’’:

(1) formal document request for the production of foreign-based documentation (§ 982(c)(1));

(2) notification of disclosure proceedings (§ 6110(f)(3)(B));

(3) notice of deficiency (§ 6212(b)); (4) notice and demand for tax (§ 6303(a));

(5) notice of revocation of certification of release or nonattachment of a lien (§ 6325(f)(2)(A));

(6) notice of intention to levy (§ 6331(d)(2)(C));

(7) copy of notice of levy with respect to a life insurance or endowment contract (§ 6332(b)(1));

(8) notice of seizure and sale (§ 6335(a) and (b));

(9) notice of liability in transferee cases (§ 6901(g)); and

(10) notice of third-party summons (§ 7609(a)(2)). See Rev. Proc. 90–18, 1990–1 C.B. 491, for additional information about ‘‘last known address.’’

426 1995–2 C.B.