EFIN virtual office

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#1
rblaria  
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15
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22-Jan-2018 2:17pm
Location:
New York
I'm considering in transitioning to a virtual office (where I rent a conf. room as needed and get mail forwarding service) for the foreseeable future,

My concern is..

1. Am I allowed to use the virtual office address for EFIN, both business and mailing address?

2. If I use my home address as business address and the virtual office address as mailing address, would returns show my home address?
 

#2
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2887
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21-May-2018 7:50am
Location:
Northern MI and Coastal SC
Depends on software vendor. When I was using UltraTax, they allowed the returns to show my PO Box (mailing address). With Lacerte, it is required to show my home address. My EFIN has a mailing and physical address associated with it.
 

#3
rblaria  
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New York
CornerstoneCPA wrote:Depends on software vendor. When I was using UltraTax, they allowed the returns to show my PO Box (mailing address). With Lacerte, it is required to show my home address. My EFIN has a mailing and physical address associated with it.


Thank you. That's helpful.

So, your EFIN registration's physical address is your home address and mailing address is your PO box?
 

#4
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2887
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Northern MI and Coastal SC
rblaria wrote:
So, your EFIN registration's physical address is your home address and mailing address is your PO box?


Correct. The software vendor controls which address ends up on the tax returns based on submitting annual EFIN status. UT was willing to accept my PO Box. Intuit (Lacerte) has insisted on the physical.
 

#5
ATSMAN  
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MA
I believe the EFIN address can be a PO BOX or your physical business address.
 

#6
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NC
Lacerte insisting on a physical address has caused headaches at my firm b/c the post office won't deliver to our physical. Clients inevitably mail stuff to the physical because it shows up in various places including our 2848s which has caused a few issues.
 

#7
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Tax Me Up wrote:Lacerte insisting on a physical address has caused headaches at my firm b/c the post office won't deliver to our physical. Clients inevitably mail stuff to the physical because it shows up in various places including our 2848s which has caused a few issues.


I do not allow clients to mail me things to my home/office. Has to be to PO Box if they mail anything, otherwise electronic or in-person at their house, office, or some other place convenient for them. Tax returns are the only documents clients see that show my physical address. :evil:
 

#8
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North Carolina
I use Lacerte for individual returns, and my PO box is used. Nowhere do I have to use my physical address that I am aware of.
 

#9
ATSMAN  
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Tax Me Up wrote:Lacerte insisting on a physical address has caused headaches at my firm b/c the post office won't deliver to our physical. Clients inevitably mail stuff to the physical because it shows up in various places including our 2848s which has caused a few issues.


Seaside CPA wrote:I use Lacerte for individual returns, and my PO box is used. Nowhere do I have to use my physical address that I am aware of.


Tax Me Up are we talking about the same thing? I has a USPS PO BOX and they will not deliver the mail addressed to the PO box to my physical address. I have to go to the box and pick it up myself. I have not used Lacerte so I have no idea why it is forcing you to use a physical address instead of a PO Box that you want for business correspondence. On my software I can put whatever address I want for clients to respond.
 

#10
Joan TB  
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Texas
Atsman, I think TaxMeUp is saying that the USPS won't deliver mail to his physical address even when it is addressed that way. My son lives in Lanai City, HI and the USPS on that island does NOT do delivery of mail. Everyone has to have a PO Box.

Sometimes this causes issues with other delivery services because their street address is not on the USPS address database and online shopping doesn't think the street address is valid. But of course, FedEx, UPS can't deliver to a PO Box!
 

#11
ATSMAN  
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May be HI or some other state has strange postal laws, but in my town, the USPS will only deliver mail addressed to a PO Box into the PO Box. Mail addressed to a valid street address will be delivered to that street address.

OP needs to use the address where his post office will actually deliver mail and tell his clients to use that address ONLY.

BTW I have has some new clients or vendors send me mail with just my business name and Town, state (no street address) and USPS still delivered them!
 

#12
Joan TB  
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Mail addressed to a valid street address will be delivered to that street address.


Lanai is weird, I know. They literally have NO postal employees who work outside of the Post Office building to deliver mail. If mail comes addressed to the street address, it is returned as non-deliverable. You just flat can't get USPS mail that way. I am sure this doesn't apply to all of Hawaii, but it does apply to Lanai. (BTW, they do not pay to rent the PO Box, since it is a requirement.)

So it is not hard for me to believe that there are other physical addresses in the US where the USPS just flat won't deliver it.
 

#13
ATSMAN  
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MA
I use Priority Mail 2nd day 90% of the time BUT with the talk of Postal Budget cuts and news of USPS slowing down deliveries has be worried how it will work next tax season. I guess it depends who wins the presidency!
 


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