Some tax professionals have been actively testing the new applications, and spoke of their enthusiasm for them in the live March Tax Talk Today Webcast.

"The e-services program will allow me to contact the IRS 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When I can't fit everything between the hours of nine and five, I will be able to deal with my clients during the day and follow-up with the IRS after hours," said William Philbrick, CPA, MST, CVA, senior vice president of Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C.

J. Cecil Bowman (modernization coordinator for Wage & Investment (W&I) in Customer Accounts Services) reported that the three e-services applications are currently undergoing final testing for security, disclosure and privacy issues. Once the applications are cleared for use, they will be available to Electronic Return Originators (EROs) who have e-filed a minimum of 100 individual tax returns.

"As a practitioner involved in testing the e-services program, I was like a kid on Christmas Day, unwrapping wonderful electronic capabilities. The transcript delivery service has left me speechless," said panelist James Leimbach, EA and operator of Income Tax Services. 

Although these three e-services applications are not yet available, qualifying practitioners can register for the products now. By registering, practitioners establish an online account with the IRS that includes a secure mailbox for the exchange of sensitive information with the agency. Once the program is up and running, registrants will be notified by a direct e-mail to that mailbox. An online tutorial detailing current and future e-services products is available at www.irs.gov.

"The IRS is eager to promote and expand electronic filing and electronic services, and to move away from paper filing and phone contact with the service," says Nancy Sieger, modernization officer for Customer Accounts Services in the IRS's Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) Division. "We launched our e-filing program roughly 15 years ago, and Internet-based products are the next logical step in that progression."

Tax Talk Today panelists guided practitioners viewing the program through the IRS's e-services tutorial pages, which offer a sneak preview of the program's applications. Tax professionals who missed the demonstration can access the tutorial by logging on to the Tax Talk Today resource page, http://www.taxtalktoday.tv/index.cfm?pgname=10.51.