Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
Troubleshooting Authentication problems Problems Authenticating?? This page is intended to help you resolve possible issues with authentication. Instructions to Authenticate (electronically sign): Before you start: NOTE: Each web page in the process contains specific instructions to authenticate. Please read each screen carefully before proceeding. Authentication is a 2-step process: you must first click the link to authenticate and then log in again to "Certify". Check your junk/spam folders for our automated emails. The email may take 1-20 minutes to receive based on the demand on our system. Always check the Check Filing Status page to make sure your authentication was fully completed (the box should be checked off). How to authenticate: If you are not already logged in, log in with your ID and password. The Control Panel will open. Select the "Authenticate Filing" icon to the right of the return you would like to authenticate. The colorful Check Filing Status page will open. In the pink section, select the bold blue link �Click Here to Authenticate this Filing". Verify your information, then click the "Next" button. Agree to the declarations by clicking the "Sign Filing" button. Close all browser pages to our system. You will receive an email containing a link to complete the authentication process, please find this email sent from [email protected] (check your junk/spam folder). It may take 1 to 20 minutes to receive the email. Find and open the email. Click on the blue link inside. You will be automatically transferred to our Login page. Log in again with your Login ID and password. On the next page that opens click the "Certify" button. When finished you will receive notification "This filing has been authenticated. Thank you." Always click the "return to Control Panel" button to View Filing Status to make sure your authentication was fully completed and there is a checkmark next to your name. Possible Issues: If you are running into problems authenticating your filing, here are some things you can try: November 2023 - Stuck in a loop. If you appear to be stuck in a loop during the authentication process it may be because you did not change your password when the system prompted you to. We set a flag requiring all users to change their password when they logged in after September 1, 2023. If you logged in after and did not change your password (i.e. you clicked the cancel button when the system prompted you to change your password), you will not be able to authenticate your return. To correct this issue so you can authenticate your return you will need to change (and save) your password. To do that, follow these steps: Log out of the system log back into the system Change (and save) your password when prompted by the system Log back out of the system again Click the link in the LAST authentication email again and complete the authentication process normally Email not received: Once you click the "Click Here to Authenticate this Filing" link and go through the first few pages of the authentication process and then click the Sign Filing button, the system will send you an email to complete the authentication process within a few minutes. It is not possible to manually resend the link since the process is intended to verify the person signing through their email address. If you do not receive the email: Make sure we have the correct email address for you. Please view or edit your login ID record ad make sure the email address is correct. Check your spam and junk folders for our automated email. Search your inbox(es) for an email from [email protected] (through mail domain of mtasv.net). Wait a little longer. Sometimes during busy deadlines, it can take up to 20-minutes to receive our automated emails. Check or lower your antivirus and/or spam security settings. Speak to your IT person about allowing our emails to be received. Add our email address, [email protected] to your contact list and then start the process again. Change your email address: If you are still not able to find the email, please change your email address on account and then start the process from the beginning. Changing your email address on file is usually the quickest way to resolve this issue. Generic addresses such as @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, reliably accept our systems automated emails. Do not change to an email with the same @ domain extension because the issue is that your incoming email server is blocking our automated emails sent out. How to change your email address: You can change your own email address, or ask your primary user to change it for you. This can be managed through the Manage User Accounts link on the Quick Menu on your Control Panel or on our Home page. If needed, you can send Tech Support your new email address and we will update it and ask you to start the process to authenticate from the beginning. Checkbox is not checked on the Check Filing Status page: If you started the process to authenticate but the checkbox is still not marked, you have not completed all steps. Look for an email sent to you (at the time indicated on the Check Filing Status page). That email contains a link that must be clicked to take you back to our Home page to log in again and "Certify" the filing. See the instructions given at the top of this page. Our system will automatically place a checkmark in the checkbox next to your name on the Check Filing Status page once you have finished all steps to authenticate. If you do not see a checkmark you are not done. If you see the words "Started, not finished," you need to find the email sent to you at the time listed on the page and finish Steps 7 through 12 in the instructions (above). Common problems with the link or process of authentication: If you do not see the "Click here to Authenticate" link on the Filling Status Page then you are logged in with the wrong Login ID. You must be logged in with the correct Login ID - tied to the selected signer - to see the link to authenticate. Log out, close the page, open a new page and log in again. If you do not see the link but are sure you are logged in correctly, try to refresh the page. If the activation link on your Check Filing Status page is not active, log out, close the page and log in on a new page to try again. If the link in the email is not active, try to cut and paste what looks like the link into a new browser page. Being logged into too many screens will cause a problem. Close all browser screens and allow the link in the email to open a new browser, directing you to the correct page to authenticate. Make sure you are using the same Login ID that you used when you started the Authentication process. If you do not enter your ID and password correctly you will receive an error message. If you started the authentication process more than once, make sure you are using the last authentication email you received from the system. Each time you start the authentication process, the system changes the authentication code for your return. If you try to use an earlier email, the authentication process will not work. To authenticate, be sure to click on the bold blue link "Click Here to Authenticate this Filing" in the pink section of the Check Filing Status page and not in the small checkbox at the beginning of the line. Our system will automatically check off the checkbox for you after you finish the entire process of authentication. Our system is compatible with Firefox (both Mac and Windows), Internet Explorer (6.0 or greater), and the latest versions of Netscape and Firefox on the Windows platform. You might also find that Microsoft Edge works, but not Opera. For Mac, using Firefox will insure you see all features of our system. You can also try switching to Safari or Chrome on your Mac, although Firefox is the best. Individuals may find that one browser works better than another. How to change the signer: If you need to change the signer, your filing will need to be reopened to edit mode to select another User�s name from the Signature/Certification page inside the filing. Signer�s must have an active login ID on your account. Find instructions to add a new User on our Common Tech Support Topics here . The signer's name is misspelled: Contact Tech Support, only we can correct spelling errors in the signer�s name. We will edit the spelling of the name and reopen the filing to regenerate your pdf files to reflect the correct spelling of the signer�s name. What to do if you receive an Authentication Error message: If you have any concerns about an error message and the tips below do not help for the specific error message you received, you may send an email directly to [email protected] along with a copy of the exact text error message you received and your EIN. Authentication Errors: "Invalid Confirmation ID. The Confirmation ID in the Authentication email you used to authenticate this filing is no longer valid." You clicked the link in the wrong authentication email. You are using an invalid or now expired link because you started the authentication process more than once and are not using the link in the most recently sent email. If you clicked the authentication link more than once, you will receive a new email with a new link every time you clicked the button; only the most recent link generated will work. The emails may arrive into your inbox out of order, so please check for the most recent link throughout the last several emails received. This error can be resolved by the filer patiently following all steps in order and clicking the links once. You might also receive this error message if you backed up a page after authenticating. Please always proceed forward. To return to the Control Panel to check to see if your authentication went through, click the blue link "Return to Control Panel" on the error page or click the large Form 990 Online logo at the top of the page. There should be a checkmark in the box next to your name if your authentication is done. "The email you used for authentication did not contain the correct Confirmation ID for your Login ID" You have found the correct email with the correct link but you did not log back in again using the same correct Login ID (or format). Try to consistently use the same ID and password, taking care not to enter spaces before or after your Login ID. Passwords are case sensitive. Avoid using autofill on your computer which may default to a different Login ID. This error can be resolved by the signer. "Authentication ID Error" This might be the result of numerous clicks on the initial bold blue link on the Check Filing Status page, resulting in more than one email being sent to your email address. You may be attempting to use an outdated link. Sometimes the emails arrive into your inbox out of order. Please delete all previous emails from [email protected] and then start again from the beginning. Click each link only once and look for the one associated email. Also make sure you are logging back in with the correct Login ID and no spaces are entered before or after your ID number or password. "Unable to Connect" There is an error in the link you received. There may be a dot ( . ) missing before .org in the link. Please try to adjust this link by adding a dot ( . ) before the word org (.org). Copy the link, paste it into a new browser page, add the dot, and then see if it works. If it does not, send the original email with the link to Tech Support for further examination. "Unknown Login ID. Please re-enter" You made an error in entering your Login ID. Make sure you are not logging in with another person�s Login ID. Avoid using autofill. Passwords are case sensitive. If you clicked the password reset button you must follow through with entirely resetting your password. Instructions can be found on our Common Tech Support Topics here . "Unauthorized EIN" You are associated with more than one different organization on our system and each one currently needs your authentication. You will want to make sure you are using the specific Login ID for the specific EIN of the return you want to authenticate. Log out completely and then log back in with the correct Login ID. Tech Support can help you identify the correct Login ID to use. "Invalid Parm" Check if the link appears to have been broken upon sending. Try to either rejoin the link if it is broken onto two lines, or start the process over and check for an intact link. To rejoin the link, you may copy the entire two lines and paste it into a browser search bar. If it still does not work, send the email with the link to Tech Support. "Querystring parameter not valid" Extra characters "/>" may have been added to the end of the link and should be removed. Please forward the last email you received with the link to Tech Support at [email protected] for review; we will test and return the link. "Server error '80040e14' Incorrect syntax near '='..txt" Please try a different browser. You may cut and paste the full link into Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer. Please close your browser page and open up a different browser than you are using presently. Depending on your computer and our system, some of the features may not be fully displayed (or accepted) depending on the browser you are using. There might be a broken sequence in the authentication link. Please check that you cut and pasted the entire link from the authentication email. The link may have wrapped onto two lines (and thus split), so our system could not tie the link back to your return. If you cannot get the link to work, please send the email with the link to Tech Support for examination "Site Can�t be reached" There is an error in the link you received. There may be a dot ( . ) missing before .org in the link. Please try to adjust this link by adding a dot ( . ) before the word org (.org). Copy the link, paste it into a new browser page, add the dot, and then see if it works. If it does not, send the original email with the link to Tech Support for further examination. "Unable to Connect" or "HTTP Error 404.0 - Not Found" or "Site can't be reached" A vital dot might be missing in the link. Please check to make sure the first part of the link in the email reads https://efile.form990.org, with the dot before .form and .org. There must also be a dot before .asp. later in the link. Copy the link into a new browser page and add the missing dot, or you can send the problem link to Tech Support for examination. If you do not see the answer to your question on this page, contact Technical Support (include your EIN and full details) at [email protected].