IRS and Tax Filing Issues

Brenda Chase3 said:Thanks, triax, but I think we’re dealing with a different beast entirely here. Our settings are perfectly configured; we’ve actually walked through the entire setup process with IT administrators over the phone three separate times now, yet that signature button remains completely unresponsive. It isn't even throwing an error message—that would at least be progress. Instead, you click the button, it highlights as if it's registering the mouse click, and then... nothing. It’s just dead. I called support again today because we haven't heard a peep from anyone in five days, and the representative basically admitted they're getting calls about this exact issue from everyone. They couldn't tell me what's causing it or why it's happening, and more importantly, they had no idea how to fix it. They've logged the bug and they're aware of it, but honestly, they seem totally clueless on how to resolve it.

I’ve been using the IRS online portal since the early days, and I have never dealt with this much incompetence. Lately, if I haven't logged in for more than a week, it feels like some sort of digital curse kicks in and everything breaks, unfortunately...
I’m curious—did anyone else get told by their phone support that if you can't resolve the glitch on your own, they'll dispatch some kind of "field service" to your house?

Michael Perez83 said:I’ve been using the IRS online portal since the early days, and I have never dealt with this much incompetence. Lately, if I haven't logged in for more than a week, it feels like some sort of digital curse kicks in and everything breaks, unfortunately...
I’m curious—did anyone else get told by their phone support that if you can't resolve the glitch on your own, they'll dispatch some kind of "field service" to your house?

I have to agree with you there. I’ve been using this digital registration portal for nearly three years now, and in the beginning, everything functioned perfectly. However, ever since the IRS integrated their systems and started trying to sync their software with our registry so we could use both seamlessly without constantly messing with settings, it has been a nightmare.
On July 19th, I was submitting everything without a single hitch, and that was my last successful login. It is exactly as you described—just a few days of downtime and suddenly it’s total chaos.
As for the field tech... at first, the lady on the support line assumed the fault was on my end. Of course, the default assumption is always that the user is making a mistake, followed by all the usual "how could you not know how to do this?" and "no one else has reported this" excuses. She even mentioned sending someone out because they hadn't received any other reports of such an issue. I pointed out that perhaps they hadn't received them yet because it's only August 1st and people haven't even finished their monthly filings. Once she realized that my other functions were working fine—that I could sign documents through the IRS portal and access my online banking without issues, and that everything on the registry worked except for this new specific form—she said she would investigate and call me back. Since then, she called to say that other people had actually started reporting the exact same problem. She retracted the offer for a field technician, stating they would just try to resolve the issue internally and keep me posted. Well, five days have passed with zero follow-up, and today I finally heard that they still have absolutely no idea how to fix it.

Hey there,
I’m looking for some guidance here because I’m a bit stuck... Since my income isn't exactly massive, I currently operate as a sole proprietor rather than a formal corporation. I get these occasional payments from overseas that all fall under "other income," and honestly, I just want to handle my Social Security contributions, taxes, and all those tedious IRS filings online without losing my mind... but I have no clue what this is actually going to cost me.
Do I really need to sign up for one of those expensive business service packages with a dedicated Chase business debit card, $17 plus deal with monthly sales tax filings that companies use, or is it enough to just grab a standard personal digital ID?
As an individual, I can apparently request a digital certificate on a USB drive or just go with a software-based one, but when you dig into the official IRS or bank websites, it’s all such a mess and they don't clearly explain which one I actually need or how they differ from the heavy-duty business versions... it's just incredibly vague...
Does anyone happen to know what local accounting firms usually charge for setting all this stuff up?

Thanks!

Just a quick heads-up for everyone using the e-filing system: if you've been running into glitches, please hang tight through the end of the week. The IRS is currently working on a software update because they’re hitting some major bugs with signing R-form files—specifically, the digital signature button just isn't responding. I actually got a call from a field representative today who confirmed the issue is entirely on their end. He told me there's absolutely no point in making an in-person appointment right now, as the IRS is dedicating today and tomorrow to rolling out this new version to fix the error. That's all I know for now.

Brenda Chase3 said:If this is intended as a solution to the issue I described earlier, could you please walk me through the steps in a bit more detail? I'm finding the instructions a little hard to follow. Also, I have an e-card (not a USB stick), if that makes any difference.

I also use a smart card instead of a physical USB stick, though I'm not entirely sure if these steps would even apply to a thumb drive.
I started by completely uninstalling ActivcardID and stripping out all versions of Java from my system.
Then I headed over to and kicked off the installation process. During the setup, it prompted me to select a reader, so I picked ActivcardID ver 6.3 (I can't recall the exact version number right now, but it was likely that one). After a quick restart, everything started working perfectly, with both the latest Java and the newest ActivcardID fully installed.
For anyone wondering about my setup, I'm running Windows 7 64-bit.
When I reached out to the IRS helpdesk to file a complaint—and I did call them quite a few times regarding these e-filing issues—they basically brushed me off every single time, claiming everything worked fine on their end and that the problem was entirely mine. On the other hand, when I called the FIN helpdesk, they were actually very polite and genuinely tried to assist me. They always made sure to ask which operating system I was using and which version of IE I had running. It turns out the trouble always started once I mentioned I was using Windows 7 64-bit along with Internet Explorer 10. Following their advice, I actually uninstalled IE 10 and installed Internet Explorer 9 32-bit, which ended up working for a while.
Since I used to work at FIN back in the day (when they were still known as SDK), I have a pretty good handle on how they operate. In the past, they wouldn't release a new program until it was thoroughly tested and they had confirmed every single workstation met the minimum technical requirements. It feels like those standards aren't quite as strict anymore. Now, they just list some minimum specs, and if your hardware is even slightly more advanced than what they expect, you run into nothing but trouble. Instead of being able to upgrade your gear, you find yourself having to downgrade your entire system just to stay compatible.

silverbadger said:I also use a smart card instead of a physical USB stick, though I'm not entirely sure if these steps would even apply to a thumb drive.
I started by completely uninstalling ActivcardID and stripping out all versions of Java from my system.
Then I headed over to and kicked off the installation process. During the setup, it prompted me to select a reader, so I picked ActivcardID ver 6.3 (I can't recall the exact version number right now, but it was likely that one). After a quick restart, everything started working perfectly, with both the latest Java and the newest ActivcardID fully installed.
For anyone wondering about my setup, I'm running Windows 7 64-bit.
When I reached out to the IRS helpdesk to file a complaint—and I did call them quite a few times regarding these e-filing issues—they basically brushed me off every single time, claiming everything worked fine on their end and that the problem was entirely mine. On the other hand, when I called the FIN helpdesk, they were actually very polite and genuinely tried to assist me. They always made sure to ask which operating system I was using and which version of IE I had running. It turns out the trouble always started once I mentioned I was using Windows 7 64-bit along with Internet Explorer 10. Following their advice, I actually uninstalled IE 10 and installed Internet Explorer 9 32-bit, which ended up working for a while.
Since I used to work at FIN back in the day (when they were still known as SDK), I have a pretty good handle on how they operate. In the past, they wouldn't release a new program until it was thoroughly tested and they had confirmed every single workstation met the minimum technical requirements. It feels like those standards aren't quite as strict anymore. Now, they just list some minimum specs, and if your hardware is even slightly more advanced than what they expect, you run into nothing but trouble. Instead of being able to upgrade your gear, you find yourself having to downgrade your entire system just to stay compatible.

Thanks, BlindDog. If the field agents hadn't already scheduled to visit me today, I would have tried your suggestion immediately. But since they'll be out in the area today and tomorrow to resolve the issue themselves, I think I'll just hang tight for a bit longer and see how it plays out.

Just a quick heads-up for anyone who’s been dealing with those two weeks of headaches trying to file R-SM forms through the e-Regos portal: they just rolled out a new update. If you were getting stuck during the digital signature phase, that bug should be officially squashed, so everything should be flowing smoothly again. There is one lingering hiccup, though—it looks like there's currently an issue with printing the documents once they've been submitted (you know, when you try to save a copy or hit print after sending the R-SM). Apparently, the tech support team is already on it, though. I just got off the phone with a technician who confirmed they're working on a fix right now.

Brenda Chase3 said:Just a quick heads-up for anyone who’s been dealing with those two weeks of headaches trying to file R-SM forms through the e-Regos portal: they just rolled out a new update. If you were getting stuck during the digital signature phase, that bug should be officially squashed, so everything should be flowing smoothly again. There is one lingering hiccup, though—it looks like there's currently an issue with printing the documents once they've been submitted (you know, when you try to save a copy or hit print after sending the R-SM). Apparently, the tech support team is already on it, though. I just got off the phone with a technician who confirmed they're working on a fix right now.

I honestly cannot believe this.
I only send in my handful of tax forms once a month, and lately, it’s never gone smoothly even once. Last time, I wasted an entire morning fighting some nonsense, only to finally get a woman on the phone—after an eternity on hold—to tell me I absolutely had to finish it today because of some processing deadline tomorrow. But the site kept throwing these stupid error messages at me! If the system is broken, why on earth would I care what some lady on the phone tells me about a deadline I can't even meet?

Or, my personal favorite: their legendary response, "Go ask your IT guy." As if every small business has a dedicated tech department on standby. I have to figure all this stuff out myself because I'm the one doing the work.

There was one time toward the end of the month when I realized I’d missed a specific filing for a contractor fee. I tried everything, but the site just kept kicking me out. I called them to see what was wrong, and of course, they claimed everything was fine on their end. I asked the representative if I could just file it tomorrow since it was the end of the month, and she basically told me, "No, you'll be non-compliant; it has to be done today." Well, how am I supposed to do it if your website is broken?! In the end, I finally managed to squeeze it through right before closing time—I think they finally got their act together.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is to see if anyone has tried submitting the new sales tax filings yet. I want to know what kind of disasters are waiting for me next week, because I'm still grinding through this current batch and the deadline is Tuesday.

🙂

Ethan Mitchell4 said:I honestly cannot believe this.
I only send in my handful of tax forms once a month, and lately, it’s never gone smoothly even once. Last time, I wasted an entire morning fighting some nonsense, only to finally get a woman on the phone—after an eternity on hold—to tell me I absolutely had to finish it today because of some processing deadline tomorrow. But the site kept throwing these stupid error messages at me! If the system is broken, why on earth would I care what some lady on the phone tells me about a deadline I can't even meet?

Or, my personal favorite: their legendary response, "Go ask your IT guy." As if every small business has a dedicated tech department on standby. I have to figure all this stuff out myself because I'm the one doing the work.

There was one time toward the end of the month when I realized I’d missed a specific filing for a contractor fee. I tried everything, but the site just kept kicking me out. I called them to see what was wrong, and of course, they claimed everything was fine on their end. I asked the representative if I could just file it tomorrow since it was the end of the month, and she basically told me, "No, you'll be non-compliant; it has to be done today." Well, how am I supposed to do it if your website is broken?! In the end, I finally managed to squeeze it through right before closing time—I think they finally got their act together.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is to see if anyone has tried submitting the new sales tax filings yet. I want to know what kind of disasters are waiting for me next week, because I'm still grinding through this current batch and the deadline is Tuesday.

🙂

The sales tax filing through the IRS portal works just fine. 😉

Is anyone else running into this wall while trying to generate an R-form? I go through the whole process, fill out every single field, and then—nothing. Just get hit with a "file creation failed, processing error, please verify your data" message. I reached out to customer support, and they basically told me the glitch was on their end and to just sit tight until Friday. Well, it's Friday now, the exact same error is popping up, and now I can't even get a hold of anyone in support. Does anyone know if there's a workaround, or am I just stuck in limbo here?
🙂

Just shoot them an email. I dealt with a super sweet lady over at customer service who reached out to let me know they were having some technical glitches, then gave me a ring later to say they’d cleared everything up and told me to try resubmitting the form. Such a sweetheart 😍

I just updated my fintech certificates on my USB drive, and now the IRS website won't recognize them in Firefox (it says it can't find the certificate). Everything works perfectly fine in Edge, though.

Has anyone else run into this glitch? Any ideas on how to fix it? 😕

It’s super weird because everything was working flawlessly in both browsers right before I did the update.

Jesse James7 said:I have a question
When filling out the sales tax forms and submitting them through the IRS portal, whose name goes down in the "prepared by" section?
My digital certificate is registered under our CEO, and since he’s technically the one filing these—even though I'm actually doing all the heavy lifting—everything is tied to his identity.
Up until now, I’ve just been putting my own name in that box. It feels logical, right? I'm the one performing the task. But now I'm second-guessing myself; since the legal signature belongs to him, should I be listing his name instead?

Can anyone with actual experience weigh in? This is driving me crazy, and I'm staring down my very first filing today.🙄

To whom it may concern,
I am reaching out because I would truly appreciate any guidance or specific instructions regarding the submission of the ZP form.
To provide some context, we are dealing with a fully verified foreign corporation that already holds a valid VAT ID.
On paper, everything appears to be perfectly in order, yet I keep encountering an error message stating: "THE TAXPAYER DOES NOT EXIST IN THE TAXPAYER REGISTER."
Thank you so much in advance for your assistance.

jadenomad24 said:I was actually just thinking about that too. The director’s name is listed as the certificate holder, so I’m stuck wondering if I should be putting my own name down instead?
Anyway, what I really need to figure out is which line on the sales tax return I should be using for incoming invoices. For instance, if it's for a transport service within the US—previously, under the old tax forms, that went under Section III, Line 3, specifically for input tax on received invoices at a 25% rate. Now, I'm lost. Does it go under Section III, Line 1 for calculated input tax from domestic deliveries, or Line 2 for input tax on domestic deliveries where the recipient handles the tax remittance? What is the actual distinction there?🙈

??

Amanda Mendoza10 said:To whom it may concern,
I am reaching out because I would truly appreciate any guidance or specific instructions regarding the submission of the ZP form.
To provide some context, we are dealing with a fully verified foreign corporation that already holds a valid VAT ID.
On paper, everything appears to be perfectly in order, yet I keep encountering an error message stating: "THE TAXPAYER DOES NOT EXIST IN THE TAXPAYER REGISTER."
Thank you so much in advance for your assistance.

It might be that your company hasn't been issued a Tax ID yet.....

I’m not sure if anyone else caught this: when you send over the sales tax form, the confirmation shows the tax type as VAT-S instead of what it should be.

jadenomad24 said:I was actually just thinking about that myself—the director’s name is listed as the certificate holder, so I'm torn on whether I should put my own name down instead.
Anyway, what I really need to know is which line on the sales tax return I should be using for incoming invoices. For example, if I get an invoice for shipping services within the US—previously, under the old tax forms, that went under Section III, Line 3 (input tax on received invoices at a 25% rate). Now, I'm lost. Does it go under Section III, Line 1 (calculated input tax from domestic supplies) or Line 2 (input tax on domestic supplies where the recipient handles the tax)? What's the actual difference here?🙈

It goes in III 1. Line III 2 is for those construction contractors.

Thanks, Raymond Martinez10!!

To is incredibly frustrating—we’ve been assigned a specific reference number, but for some reason, the system just won't accept it.
So, here we go: my very first encounter with the legendary bureaucratic nightmare that is the federal government.
And if you think that's bad, get this: when I actually reached out to customer support, nobody seemed to have a clue what they were doing; they just kept passing the buck from one department to another.