Update: A previous version of this blog said MeF would be down from 12:00 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, June 16, 2020 until 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Sunday, June 21, 2020. The service will only be down on Sunday from 12:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Eastern.

 Tax professionals planning to use the IRS Modernized e-File (MeF) system this weekend to file a stack of returns for their clients may have to send them to the Internal Revenue Service at a different time. The IRS yesterday used one of its QuickAlerts to announce extended maintenance for the service.

“MeF Production and Assurance Testing System (ATS) environments will be unavailable due to maintenance from 12:01 a.m. Eastern through 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Sunday, June 21, 2020,” the IRS wrote. The agency then recommended that users “monitor the MeF Operational Status page for any future updates.”

The planned outage will affect many preparers who still have returns to file, since—as the “Modernized e-File (MeF) Program Overview” page on IRS.gov explains—this service “provides electronic filing and payment options for filers of Corporation, Employment Tax, Estates and Trusts, Excise Tax, Exempt Organization, Individual, and Partnership Tax Returns.”

Source: IRS QuickAlerts