Signing, transmitting and rejections

A reader whose return was rejected, or who is about to transmit one, wants to know what happens.

Nothing here decides whether a return is due for you, what your status is, or who you may claim. Those turn on your own facts.

Software is not the law

What a product supports is a fact about the product. Acceptance of a transmission is not agreement that the return is right, and a product's silence about something is not permission.

What the rules say

We do not work out anyone's tax, refund or balance. We explain what each rule asks for; the arithmetic belongs to you and to whatever you file with.

• Acceptance of an electronic return means the transmission passed the Service's validation checks. It is not an examination and not an approval of any position on the return.
• Rejection of an electronic return means a validation check failed. It decides nothing about whether the positions on the return are right or wrong.

The records this part asks for

• The identity details electronic filing asks for, such as a prior-year figure or an assigned PIN — Electronic filing authenticates the signer before the return is transmitted.

The forms involved, and what each one is

There are two different kinds of document here: ones you receive and copy from, and ones that are part of the return itself. They are easy to confuse and they behave nothing alike.

• Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) — authentication input. An identity control. It says nothing about the substance of the return.
• Prior-year adjusted gross income or prior-year self-select PIN (e-file signature verification) — authentication input. Used to verify the electronic signature only.

What we are not saying

• Not: that acceptance approves the tax treatment claimed.
• Not: that acceptance prevents a later notice or examination.
• Not: that a rejection means the reader owes money.
• Not: that a rejection means the claim was disallowed.
• Not: Acceptance of a transmitted return confirms the transmission, not the tax positions in it.

Where this stops being a filing question

• A rejection is a transmission event. A NOTICE is a substantive communication, and reading notices is the IRS Notice Center's subject. Until that is settled, this stays open: What does the letter the reader received actually say? What comes back is an understanding of what the notice is and what it asks for.

Sources

Every source on this page shows the body that issued it and the date we read it. Amounts are stated for tax year 2025, and the text behind this centre was last read on 2026-08-16.

• Validating your electronically filed tax returnInternal Revenue Service. Read for: An electronically filed return is signed with a self-selected personal identification number, and the signature is verified using the prior-year adjusted gross income or the prior-year PIN. not year-scoped. Read on 2026-08-16.
• Self-Select PIN method for Forms 1040 and 4868 (Modernized e-File)Internal Revenue Service. Read for: Describes the self-select signature method available for the individual return and the extension application. not year-scoped. Read on 2026-08-16.
• Get an identity protection PIN (IP PIN)Internal Revenue Service. Read for: An IP PIN is a number known only to the taxpayer and the IRS that must be entered on the return when one has been issued. not year-scoped. Read on 2026-08-16.

Where to go next

Educational information only. This is not tax advice, we are not your tax preparer, and nothing here is a determination about your own return. Check the linked official sources, and consider a professional for anything that turns on your specific facts.