@ellerykurtz wrote:
Thank you for the advice. This is for 2020 tax year, so there is time to obtain a new one. The IRS is such a big agency, but I would like to query them directly. Do you have a suggestion as to who or which department within the agency might know the answer?
The IRS position is that sections 6061(a) and 6065 of the Internal Revenue Code require original signatures on any tax return document that requires a signature. They released a procedure for COVID-19 to reduce the amount of in-person interactions by allowing photocopied and electronic signatures on certain documents relating to audits and similar reviews, but it does not change the requirement for original signatures on tax returns.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/lanoa/pmta00389_7120.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/pub/foia/ig/spder/nhq-01-0620-0002.pdf
You can call the IRS main number and, when you eventually get to a human being, you've got a 60% chance of getting a correct answer. But that's not going to change the Tax Code.
