What is Online Access?

Last modified 12/22/2022 5:28:10 AM EST

TaxBandits offers an Online Access service to instantly share recipient copies of tax forms through a secure online portal. This eliminates the need to print, mail, or manually distribute forms, while ensuring recipients can conveniently access their copies anytime, from anywhere.

How does it work?

• Enable Online Access – While preparing your tax forms, you can enable Online Access on the Form Distribution page. If you prefer to enable it after transmitting, simply navigate to the Online Access menu in your dashboard. (Note: If email addresses are missing, Online Access will be enabled only for the remaining recipients.)
  
  
   

• Recipient Notification – After transmission, recipients receive an email with a secure link to the online portal.

• Recipient Verification – To ensure confidentiality, recipients must verify their identity by entering their email address and the last four digits of their TIN.

• Recipient Consent – As required by IRS Publication 1179, recipients must provide consent before accessing their forms electronically. Once consent is given, they can view and download their form copies at any time.

• Lifetime Access – Once verified, recipients can log in to the portal anytime in the future to view and download their form copies as often as they need.
   

Why is the recipient’s consent needed for online access? According to the guidelines outlined in IRS Publication 1179, recipients must provide consent to receive their form(s) electronically. If consent is not granted, a paper copy must be provided. To learn how to enable the online access feature in TaxBandits, click here.  Recipients have the flexibility to revoke their consent at any time. If consent is revoked, payers are notified immediately