Employment Tax e-file Program

Definition
A Transmitter is a firm, organization, or individual that receives returns and PIN Registrations electronically from clients (Electronic Return Originators (EROs), Reporting Agents, or Taxpayers), reformats the data (if necessary), batches them with returns or electronic PIN Registrations from other clients, and then transmits the data to the IRS. A Transmitter does not have signature authority for the taxpayers that it services.

Getting Started
To participate in the Employment Tax e-file Program, prospective participants must first complete and submit an IRS e-file application. You can complete the IRS e-file application online after registering for e-services.    Additional guidance can be found in Publication 3112.  Follow the instructions provided to complete your application. 

If you have questions, or require assistance completing the IRS e-file application, phone 1-866-255-0654 (toll-free)

Obtaining Software
In order to electronically transmit return data to the IRS, you must use approved software that has gone through the IRS assurance testing process. Visit the Approved IRS e-file for Business Provider page for the employment tax e-file program or the Payroll Service Provider page to get started.  If you want to develop your own software, please refer to the Fact Sheet for Software Developers.

Cost
Although the IRS does not charge a fee to participate in the e-file program, there may be a charge based upon which Software Provider you choose to satisfy your business needs. We suggest you visit our Approved IRS e-file for Business Provider page for the employment tax e-file program or the Payroll Service Provider page to select the company you'd like to use to file your 940/941/944 returns electronically.

Acknowledgements
An Acknowledgment (ACK) File will be returned for each successfully transmitted Return or PIN Registration file. XML transmissions are processed as received, so ACKs will be available as soon as the transmission has been processed, and will not follow the once or twice daily “drain” schedule of other e-file programs.

You will receive a single ACK file for each transmission file submitted.  Each ACK file will be composed of one or more ACK records, providing an acceptance, or a rejection, for each item in the transmission file.  If a return is rejected, the ACK record will contain one or more error conditions for that return, explaining why the return was rejected.