ExpressIRSForms E-filing Features: Postal Mailing

At ExpressIRSForms, we’re all about the features - the features that make e-filing for users like you easier than ever. Last week, we talked about our Bulk Upload feature, and this week we’ll take you through our Postal Mailing feature, as well as talk a bit about the checkout process with ExpressIRSForms.

What is Postal Mailing?

So you might be wondering what we mean when we say “the postal mailing feature.” You came to an e-filing site, why are we talking about physically mailing your forms? Well, it’s simple: if you select our postal mailing package, not only will we e-file your forms federally and with your state (if applicable), but we’ll also mail the employee/payee copies of your forms to your recipients for you.

For an additional postage fee, you could quite literally be done with your filing as soon as you hit Transmit from your ExpressIRSForms account.

How Do I Get This Awesome Feature?
In order to show you how to utilize our postal mailing feature, we’ll need to back up a couple of steps to your first summary screen:

Before you select the e-filing package you’d like, you’ll see this screen which shows a summary of your order so far. From here, you can view, edit, and delete any forms you’ve completed, broken down by payer. You can also add another form for this payer by selecting the “Add form for this Payer” button, circled above on the far right. Pro tip: to get more bang for your buck, add any other payers and their forms before continuing to check out.

When you’ve got everything in order, click Continue and you’ll see this screen:

In this option, you’ll see that Federal E-file Only is the package that has been selected. As a result, even though I’ve entered state information on my W-2s, they’ll only be federally filed with the IRS and SSA, not with the state (of South Carolina, in this case).

To include postal mailing, you’ll need to select the Package tab, like in this example:

As you can see, my state icons have turned green, as have the plan options on the left side of the screen to reflect my choosing to file federally and with the state, and to have postal mail sent to my recipients. Keep in mind that even if you select this option, your state icons may not turn green; they may become any one of these stoplight colors:

So make sure you pay attention to what the signs say before proceeding. When you do click Continue, you’ll see a brief explanation of the filing requirements for the state for which you’re filing (if applicable):

Some users will be delighted to see they don’t need to do anything else while others will still be required to file additional forms with their state. Once you’ve got your ducks in a row, click Continue to be taken here:

Here we have a summary of the completed e-filing order and details on the package I chose. From here on out, it’s just a matter of paying the piper and transmitting your forms. Once you transmit your forms, your recipient copies will be sent out to your employees/payees by the next business day from our offices here in South Carolina.

If you have any questions about e-filing or the ExpressIRSForms e-filing packages, give us a call at 704-839-2270. We’re available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST. We also offer 24/7 email support at support@ExpressIRSForms.com.