Can I mask the SSN, EFIN, PTIN on forms? Are there any limitations to printing or issues that I may encounter when this option is selected?
Yes, you can enable the option Mask SSN, EFIN, PTIN on Client and Preparer Sets in Setup > Options > Calculation & View/Print tab. This will mask the SSN, EFIN and PTIN when you select to print forms from the Client and Preparer sets. This option is applied when a set is printed using the Drake PDF Printer, or to a physical printer.
Setup Option:
View Mode selection:
Notes:
- The option is available only when printing from the Enhanced version of View mode; not in Basic view mode.
- When you print the Client or Preparer set from Enhanced View, the numbers will be replaced with Xs.
- The print job is only considered a "set" when more than one form is selected for printing from that set. If you only select a single form from a set to print, masking is not applied.
- The SSN, EFIN, and PTIN will still appear in view mode. If you want to mask the SSN in view as well, see Related Links below.
- Masking is available for the SSN, EFIN, and PTIN in all return types.
- EINs are not masked with any setup option for any return type.
Starting with Drake22, two additional options are available when you select Mask SSN, EFIN, PTIN on Client and Preparer Sets. The additional options are:
- Do not mask last 4 digits of SSN
- Do not mask depositor account number on Form 1040
Masking of account numbers may not be available for all state returns.
Issues/Considerations:
Certain forms, such as federal or state vouchers, extension forms, and other scanning enabled forms, are unable to be printed with the masking enabled. If these forms were to be sent to the IRS or a state tax agency without the taxpayer’s SSN, the payment or form would not be processed. To ensure that the correct version of the voucher is used, you must print vouchers and other scannable forms from the Federal and State Sets or from All Forms instead. A message page will show when this applies to selected form(s):
These pages will have to be printed from the Federal or State set, or from All Forms so that there will not be processing issues when received by the taxing agency.
Ohio is now producing a watermark when printing from sets with this option enabled; see Related Links below for details.