EFIN Required to the software

For a professional tax preparer, the motto is - no EFIN, no e-file.  All professional tax software will require you to have an EFIN if you are going to e-file returns.

IRS requires you to have an EFIN to EFile ANY returns, youre required to EFile if youre been paid to prepare 10 or more returns, so you can paper file as many as you want with no EFIN.

If you sign up with a service bureau you can use one of their EFINs, but be sure you know what you're signing up for before agreeing to anything.

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@elenardiconsulting wrote:

I have a full time job so preparing taxes would be more like a side hustle for me.

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I don't know your background or your goals, but ...

You aren't going to like my thought and this is only my opinion, but tax preparation should not be a small "side hustle".  It should either be a full business (not necessarily a full-time, year-around business, but definitely should be a very significant portion of your time) or not be done at all.

I realize that companies like Intuit have commercials saying that 'anybody can do it' and 'it is easy', but there is A LOT to tax preparation, and in my opinion the very-small "side hustles" are doing a severe disservice to the clients and setting themselves up for potentially disastrous problems.

There are SO MANY situations and tax laws to be aware of, so it takes an enormous amount of education to get started.  Plus it takes many hours each year to keep up on changing tax laws.   The liability can be huge; most preparers have Errors&Omission insurance, liability insurance, and/or Cyber insurance.  Speaking of Cyber insurance, you need REALLY GOOD computer habits and security; ideally set up and regularly maintained by a highly-trained IT-security expert.

In short, it takes a very LARGE amount of TIME and MONEY for a tax preparer to do things properly, so an extremely small business doesn't really work for that.

Again, that is only my opinion.  If you want a small 'side hustle' of doing taxes, in my opinion you are MUCH better off getting a part-time job at a tax preparation firm (including places like H&R Block, etc.), rather than trying to do it on your own.