PAPERLESS ELECTRONIC FILING.

SEC. 2003. PAPERLESS ELECTRONIC FILING. (a) In General.— Section 6061 (relating to signing of returns and other documents) is amended— (1) by striking “Except as otherwise provided by” and inserting the following: “(a) General Rule.— Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) and”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(b) Electronic Signatures.— “(1) In general.— The Secretary shall develop procedures for the acceptance of signatures in digital or other electronic form. Until such time as such procedures are in place, the Secretary may— “(A) waive the requirement of a signature for; or “(B) provide for alternative methods of signing or subscribing, a particular type or class of return, declaration, statement, or other document required or permitted to be made or written under internal revenue laws and regulations.112 STAT. 725 “(2) Treatment of alternative methods.— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any return, declaration, statement, or other document filed and verified, signed, or subscribed under any method adopted under paragraph (1)(B) shall be treated for all purposes (both civil and criminal, including penalties for perjury) in the same manner as though signed or subscribed. “(3) Published guidance.— The Secretary shall publish guidance as appropriate to define and implement any waiver of the signature requirements or any method adopted under paragraph (1).”. (b) Acknowledgment of Electronic Filing.— Section 7502(c) is amended to read as follows: “(c) Registered and Certified Mailing; Electronic Filing.— “(1) Registered mail.— For purposes of this section, if any return, claim, statement, or other document, or payment, is sent by United States registered mail— “(A) such registration shall be prima facie evidence that the return, claim, statement, or other document was delivered to the agency, officer, or office to which addressed; and “(B) the date of registration shall be deemed the postmark date. “(2) Certified mail; electronic filing.— The Secretary is authorized to provide by regulations the extent to which the provisions of paragraph (1) with respect to prima facie evidence of delivery and the postmark date shall apply to certified mail and electronic filing.”. (c) Establishment of Procedures for Other Information.— In the case of taxable periods beginning after December 31, 1999, the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate shall, to the extent practicable, establish procedures to accept, in electronic form, any other information, statements, elections, or schedules, from taxpayers filing returns electronically, so that such taxpayers will not be required to file any paper. (d) Internet Availability.— In the case of taxable periods beginning after December 31, 1998, the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate shall establish procedures for all tax forms, instructions, and publications created in the most recent 5-year period to be made available electronically on the Internet in a searchable database at approximately the same time such records are available to the public in paper form. In addition, in the case of taxable periods beginning after December 31, 1998, the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate shall, to the extent practicable, establish procedures for other taxpayer guidance to be made available electronically on the Internet in a searchable database at approximately the same time such guidance is available to the public in paper form. (e) Procedures for Authorizing Disclosure Electronically.— The Secretary shall establish procedures for any taxpayer to authorize, on an electronically filed return, the Secretary to disclose information under section 6103(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to the preparer of the return. (f) Effective Date.— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.112 STAT. 726