IRS and Tax Filing Issues

Alright, everything looks good now.

It’s been nothing but a total headache all day long. I’ve been sitting here for hours trying to get a single tax form to load on the IRS Portal, but it just refuses to cooperate no matter what I do.

Same here. Honestly, I think I’m just going to call it a day and tackle this sales tax filing tomorrow.
Well, I gave it one more shot and actually managed to pull it off.
The IRS website actually posted a notice saying they're having technical issues and suggesting people keep trying periodically.

Jack Carter88 said:Alright, everything looks good now.

The forms I used last time

Does anyone actually know what the fee is for using the IRS Portal?

David Parker44 said:Does anyone actually know what the fee is for using the IRS Portal?

$0.00

David Parker44 said:Does anyone actually know what the fee is for using the IRS Portal?

$17 plus sales tax every month.

To actually get into the IRS Portal or the FERC Portal, you’re going to need an official government smart card or some kind of USB token loaded with those digital certificates... basically, if you want that specific service package with the government-issued smart card, it'll run you $17 + sales tax per month.

Regarding filing those SEC forms through the FERC Portal, the documentation says: "The service also allows for printing electronically signed Page A of the SEC form, and users can also get additional verification at local bank branches."
Does that mean you still have to physically drag your SEC forms down to a bank branch after you've already sent them via the FERC Portal? Because if that's the case, then what on earth is the point of using the FERC Portal in the first place... right?

And does anything really change once the new consolidated tax forms arrive, other than the fact that they replace those old individual forms and we won't need the FERC Portal for SEC filings since everything gets funneled through the IRS Portal anyway? It seems like a lot of moving parts...
Thanks

George Kern9 said:$17 plus sales tax every month.

To actually get into the IRS Portal or the FERC Portal, you’re going to need an official government smart card or some kind of USB token loaded with those digital certificates... basically, if you want that specific service package with the government-issued smart card, it'll run you $17 + sales tax per month.

Regarding filing those SEC forms through the FERC Portal, the documentation says: "The service also allows for printing electronically signed Page A of the SEC form, and users can also get additional verification at local bank branches."
Does that mean you still have to physically drag your SEC forms down to a bank branch after you've already sent them via the FERC Portal? Because if that's the case, then what on earth is the point of using the FERC Portal in the first place... right?

And does anything really change once the new consolidated tax forms arrive, other than the fact that they replace those old individual forms and we won't need the FERC Portal for SEC filings since everything gets funneled through the IRS Portal anyway? It seems like a lot of moving parts...
Thanks

Jack Young hit the nail on the head—the IRS Portal is $0.00, but what you're talking about is the FERC Portal—that's for people who want to file electronically, but honestly, you can just hand in paper copies and skip that $50 + sales tax fee entirely.

The JOPPD goes right through the IRS Portal and it's free—so basically, you won't be stuck paying for the FERC Portal anymore...

Is it just me, or is everyone else struggling with the IRS and Deloitte?
I’m honestly losing my mind here. I usually submit my ID forms at the start of the month and send everything over to Deloitte by the end,
but every single time, something goes wrong. Just today, I tried to run a test submission for a Deloitte form, and the second the Java window starts loading, all I get is a tiny little pop-up with a red 'X' in the top left corner.

I sent them a screenshot, and some woman called me back to walk me through it—telling me to click here, then click there—but obviously, nothing worked. Eventually, she just admitted she had no clue what was happening and said she’d email me some instructions. Honestly, those instructions are so poorly written that even a software engineer from MIT would probably struggle to make sense of them, let alone someone like me who isn't in tech.
So now what? She basically told me she doesn't know how to fix it and that I'll have to figure out the setup myself. As if! If I knew how to fix it, I wouldn't be calling her in the first place. To her, the problem is solved because she's off the hook.
And what about me? 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Carol Price4 said:Jack Young hit the nail on the head—the IRS Portal is $0.00, but what you're talking about is the FERC Portal—that's for people who want to file electronically, but honestly, you can just hand in paper copies and skip that $50 + sales tax fee entirely.

The JOPPD goes right through the IRS Portal and it's free—so basically, you won't be stuck paying for the FERC Portal anymore...

Look, if you want to actually use the IRS online system, you can't just log in whenever you feel like it; you need a physical smart card or a USB security token loaded with digital certificates issued by a provider like IDEMIA. That's clearly stated all over the official government websites.
You can check the pricing for those certificates on the IDEMIA site here

I mean, seriously, what kind of twisted math are you people using to come up with a result of $0.00...

George Kern9 said:Look, if you want to actually use the IRS online system, you can't just log in whenever you feel like it; you need a physical smart card or a USB security token loaded with digital certificates issued by a provider like IDEMIA. That's clearly stated all over the official government websites.
You can check the pricing for those certificates on the IDEMIA site here

I mean, seriously, what kind of twisted math are you people using to come up with a result of $0.00...

The thing is, the IRS portal itself doesn't charge a fee to use.
Another point to consider is that to get access in the first place, you have to maintain a specialized bank account through a provider like Chase, which carries a monthly service fee of about $5.

Ethan Mitchell4 said:Is it just me, or is everyone else struggling with the IRS and Deloitte?
I’m honestly losing my mind here. I usually submit my ID forms at the start of the month and send everything over to Deloitte by the end,
but every single time, something goes wrong. Just today, I tried to run a test submission for a Deloitte form, and the second the Java window starts loading, all I get is a tiny little pop-up with a red 'X' in the top left corner.

I sent them a screenshot, and some woman called me back to walk me through it—telling me to click here, then click there—but obviously, nothing worked. Eventually, she just admitted she had no clue what was happening and said she’d email me some instructions. Honestly, those instructions are so poorly written that even a software engineer from MIT would probably struggle to make sense of them, let alone someone like me who isn't in tech.
So now what? She basically told me she doesn't know how to fix it and that I'll have to figure out the setup myself. As if! If I knew how to fix it, I wouldn't be calling her in the first place. To her, the problem is solved because she's off the hook.
And what about me? 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

I sent my info over yesterday and everything went through smooth as silk. Not sure why you're hitting a wall🤷....it might just be a glitch with your computer or something, causing the block.

Jack Young said:I sent my info over yesterday and everything went through smooth as silk. Not sure why you're hitting a wall🤷....it might just be a glitch with your computer or something, causing the block.

Or maybe an outdated Java version? What error message are you getting?

silverbadger said:The thing is, the IRS portal itself doesn't charge a fee to use.
Another point to consider is that to get access in the first place, you have to maintain a specialized bank account through a provider like Chase, which carries a monthly service fee of about $5.

No matter how you slice it, using the IRS site isn't free... though I don't think it's quite $17 + tax per month.

On the Fidelity website, it says right here:
If you don't want to use Fidelity's online services and instead decide to just use digital certificates on a Fidelity e-card or a USB token solely for electronic signatures, the fees are as follows:

Business digital certificates on a Fidelity e-card or USB token

Issuance of two digital certificates
$130 / annually

Business entity registration*
$27 / one-time fee

Card reader
$30 / one-time fee

Now, if an electronic signature is all you need to file forms through the IRS service, then the price is $130 + tax per year. But then why on earth are they listing the price for two digital certificates? If one certificate is enough, shouldn't the price be $93 + tax per year, according to what's listed here at

Can someone please make sense of this mess for me...
Thanks

George Kern9 said:No matter how you slice it, using the IRS site isn't free... though I don't think it's quite $17 + tax per month.

On the Fidelity website, it says right here:
If you don't want to use Fidelity's online services and instead decide to just use digital certificates on a Fidelity e-card or a USB token solely for electronic signatures, the fees are as follows:

Business digital certificates on a Fidelity e-card or USB token

Issuance of two digital certificates
$130 / annually

Business entity registration*
$27 / one-time fee

Card reader
$30 / one-time fee

Now, if an electronic signature is all you need to file forms through the IRS service, then the price is $130 + tax per year. But then why on earth are they listing the price for two digital certificates? If one certificate is enough, shouldn't the price be $93 + tax per year, according to what's listed here at

Can someone please make sense of this mess for me...
Thanks

I use a Fidelity certificate on a USB stick from my bank for both this and my online banking. I paid $73 and it's good for 2 years, 🤷

Carol Price4 said:I use a Fidelity certificate on a USB stick from my bank for both this and my online banking. I paid $73 and it's good for 2 years, 🤷

Been using my ID from the DMV for years and didn't even have to pay a dime for the IRS website

Yeah, so you have to pay for a digital certificate, which they can load onto a credit card or a specialized USB token from the payment processor or your bank. Honestly, though, I don't think most major banks even offer that kind of setup for individual consumers... they usually just leave it to the big fintech companies.
Devilgirl, which specific bank are you talking about, and would you actually recommend them? Is their service any good or just a total headache?

George Kern9 said:Yeah, so you have to pay for a digital certificate, which they can load onto a credit card or a specialized USB token from the payment processor or your bank. Honestly, though, I don't think most major banks even offer that kind of setup for individual consumers... they usually just leave it to the big fintech companies.
Devilgirl, which specific bank are you talking about, and would you actually recommend them? Is their service any good or just a total headache?

RBA, yeah—I'm happy with them.

Hey there,

I’m hitting a total wall with the IRS portal and the tax filing app.
Every time I try to log in, I get this error message saying NO CERTIFICATE SELECTED, complete with a red triangle and an exclamation point.😕
Does anyone actually know what might be causing this?
Everything was working perfectly fine until now.
I’ve tried following all the official user guides step-by-step, but nothing works.
I even went as far as wiping everything and doing a clean reinstall, scrolling through all the advice on these forums, and trying every trick in the book—still nothing.

When I try to access the filing system, I just get this: FORBIDDEN: You don't have permission to access /rs on this server.
IBM-HTTP-server at treasury.gov port 443

DOES ANYONE HAVE A CLUE WHAT IS GOING ON??

jadenomad24 said:Hey there,

I’m hitting a total wall with the IRS portal and the tax filing app.
Every time I try to log in, I get this error message saying NO CERTIFICATE SELECTED, complete with a red triangle and an exclamation point.😕
Does anyone actually know what might be causing this?
Everything was working perfectly fine until now.
I’ve tried following all the official user guides step-by-step, but nothing works.
I even went as far as wiping everything and doing a clean reinstall, scrolling through all the advice on these forums, and trying every trick in the book—still nothing.

When I try to access the filing system, I just get this: FORBIDDEN: You don't have permission to access /rs on this server.
IBM-HTTP-server at treasury.gov port 443

DOES ANYONE HAVE A CLUE WHAT IS GOING ON??

I’ll just throw some guesses out there for you to test. Personally, whenever I try to file any kind of form, something always goes wrong; just when I think I've sorted out the IRS stuff, the Treasury site freezes up, but here is what I'm thinking:

1. I have a major headache because my Windows version is 64-bit, while the Treasury software seems to prefer 32-bit, so every single update messes everything up for me. I'm no IT expert, so I'm explaining it this way—anyone who knows tech will understand, but unfortunately, I don't. You might want to look into that direction.

2. The Treasury site only works via Internet Explorer, while the IRS site only works via Firefox. They claim the IRS site works on other browsers too, but it certainly doesn't work for me.

3. Is it possible your digital certificate expired?

That's all that comes to mind right now.