Viewing the status and content of 1040 electronically filed returns

Show expandable text

New (tax) year, new help!

Fixed Assets and UltraTax CS 2023 help is now on Help and Support. We're still moving articles, but you can find most content for the 2023 tax year there. Continue using the Help & How-To Center for tax years 2022 and older.

To view the status of electronically transmitted returns, do the following:

  1. Verify that all acknowledgments have been received.

    Every return transmitted is acknowledged by the receiving agency (such as the IRS) via the return of an acknowledgment (ACK) file to the transmitter. The acknowledgment file is a record of whether the transmitted returns have been accepted or rejected, along with any errors discovered by the receiving agency. The transmitter generally receives this file from the agency within two days of transmitting the returns.

    When Thomson Reuters is the transmitter, these acknowledgments are made available through CS Connect 15 minutes after they are received from the agency.

    See Transmitting electronic returns and retrieving acknowledgments using CS Connect for more information.
  2. Choose Utilities > Electronic Filing Status to open the Electronic Filing Status dialog, or click the Electronic Filing Status Electronic Filing Status button button on the UltraTax CS toolbar. Clients who have had any electronic filing activity, such as an electronic return file created or transmitted, will be listed in the Electronic Filing Status dialog.
  3. Use the Focus fields at the bottom of the dialog to refine the list of clients.
  4. Click the View button next to a client to view the contents of the electronic file.

    Note: To search for an item in the electronic file, press CTRL+F and enter the text you want to search.

  5. To view the status of a bank product, highlight the return in question, and click the Bank Info Bank Info button button to launch a Refund Advantage website used for tracking the status of the requested bank product.
  • The Client ID, Client Name, and TIN columns are used to identify the clients displayed.
  • The Status column displays the most recent event that has occurred in relation to that client.
  • The Entity and Return columns identify the type of return filed electronically.
  • The 9325 column displays "Email/Print," "Email only," or "Print only" when a client's return has been accepted and a facsimile of Form 9325 has been printed or an email message has been sent.

    For 1040 returns, Electronic Return Originators (EROs) give Form 9325 to taxpayers as an acknowledgment that the return is being filed electronically. Form 9325 includes the date on which the electronic return was accepted, general information about bank products, and the IRS phone numbers to call if there are questions. A facsimile of Form 9325 is available for states in UltraTax CS.

    For 1065, 1120, 1041, 990, and 5500 returns, UltraTax CS provides a similar worksheet, Acknowledgement and General Information For Taxpayers Who File Returns Electronically, which indicates that a return has been transmitted to the IRS, whether the return has been accepted, and the IRS-assigned Document Locator Number (DLN), if applicable.

  • The Signature Document column displays "To Sign" for electronic files that require a taxpayer signature or Form 8879 / 8878. After you receive a signed PIN form from the taxpayer, click the drop-down arrow in the column heading and select "Signed." When you select "Signed," UltraTax CS automatically updates the Form 8879 signature status field or the Form 8878 has already been signed and returned field for extensions in Screen PIN.
  • An entry in the Bank column signifies that a bank product through Refund Advantage has been included in the client's electronic file. If the word "Pend" appears in the Bank column, the bank product application information is in the electronic file but has not yet been forwarded to the applicable bank. Thomson Reuters will forward the bank product application information to the applicable bank for processing after receiving an accepted acknowledgment for the client. The Bank column will be updated with "Sent," indicating the bank product has been sent to Refund Advantage.

For more information about the fields and buttons in the Electronic Filing Status dialog, press F1 while the dialog is open.

You can also click the plus sign next to a client in the status list to expand the client's additional information. If additional electronic filing status details, such as acknowledgments or business rules, are available for the client, a Details button is available in the Comment column. Click the Details button, if available, to open the Details dialog to view additional information. The acknowledgment record includes information about outstanding income tax debts and whether the PIN option was transmitted to and accepted by the state or federal government tax agency.

Related topics

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for the feedback!