Fate of eForms for Trusts?

One of the nice things about having a trust was that you could eForm your Form 1s. The few times I used system it worked well enough for the purpose. Question: has anyone seen anything official, or at least credible, on what is going to happen with eForms for trusts after the July change? There is a vague reference to it in the ATF's gigantic document on 41F that seems to imply it is going away because they don't have the capability to upload pictures/fingerprint. Though with the present system they can, and do, accept uploads of trust documents (e.g., in PDF) and pictures of the item being Form 1ed (e.g., in JPG).

Anyway, I am just curious if anyone has info along those lines. Granted, there may be not official word at this point. Thanks.

I'm interested to know as well?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do not know for sure, but I know they are moving towards having everything on eForms, not away from it. They were supposed to release the new version of eForms at SHOT 2016, but decided to scrap the whole thing, reevaluate it and start all over again. Government planning and spending at it's finest. I know one of the goals for the new system is to add Form 4s and instant approval Form 3s, which I am most excited about.

SulzerFirearms said:

I do not know for sure, but I know they are moving towards having everything on eForms, not away from it. They were supposed to release the new version of eForms at SHOT 2016, but decided to scrap the whole thing, reevaluate it and start all over again. Government planning and spending at it's finest. I know one of the goals for the new system is to add Form 4s and instant approval Form 3s, which I am most excited about.

Click to expand...

Instant approval form 3 would be amazing. Especially since I get to shoot mine while I wait!

I believe they are moving to "E" versions of everything. I just got an email from the ATF explaining it, I'll post the link. Currently looks just like communication (Which already is emailed out... So not sure of the point).

Sorry there's no link I can find. Here's the email copy/pasted:

Introducing e-ATF

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is launching a series of five targeted ATF related communication products for partners. These products will be published this month and will continue to roll out throughout the summer. These email distributions will replace and enhance existing communication tools, and will be distributed under the name e-ATF, which stands for electronic ATF information system.
Following several recent assessments, including ATF’s external usability process, we realized that there was a need to communicate with our audience on a more routine basis. We think e-ATF will increase transparency and communication. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
New Communication Products

Here is an overview of our new e-ATF offerings:

e-ATF FYI will provide a monthly digest consisting of ATF announcements, resources, campaign updates and notifications of other developments in ATF’s research, services, programs, and policies;

e-FYI In-Depth will provide quarterly overviews and analyses of emerging and ongoing issues of critical importance to ATF focus areas (e.g., data and statistics, resource allocation, ATF’s investments and policy changes);

e-ATF Pubs will offer bimonthly notification of ATF’s related publications including summaries, newsletters and links to full-text articles;

e-ATF Web Updates will alert you to updates to the ATF website (www.atf.gov) and social media news updates; and

e-ATF Direct (targeted distribution) will provide as-needed statements, Dear Colleague letters, and other communications from the field divisions.
We will be migrating current subscribers to one of the new options above, however you can select additional options by managing your subscriptions using the link below. Another email will be coming with details on the migration.
By implementing this routine communication system, we hope to improve ATF’s ability to reach you with timely, targeted information critical to our collective prevention efforts. If you have any questions or suggestions about how we can improve e-ATF or any of our other communications products, please contact the ATF webmaster at atfweb@atf.gov.
Thank you for your commitment to ATF’s mission.
ATF Building

I also read about them going to digital fingerprints and photos for form submissions.

Thanks all for the details; much appreciated. It is good to hear eForms might still be around.

Also, automated Form 3s would be nice. I had one take over 3½ months, then the Form 4 wait.

From what I understand, at some point, the e-Forms system will be even better. However, the concern is that the current system is not set up to handle the new requirements introduced by 41P. So there may be a period of time where you can't file e-forms with a trust, until the new system is up and running. Considering what a cluster the current system is, and the project is run by the government, there's no telling how long that gap will be.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I did the e-file form-1 and the snail mail form-1 at the same time as a little experiment to see which one would come back quickest. The E-file beat the snail mail by one week. Both approved within a day of each other. The total wait was three months. The e-file does offer the instant gratification on approval day. This was in November.

cajun 22 said:

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I did the e-file form-1 and the snail mail form-1 at the same time as a little experiment to see which one would come back quickest. The E-file beat the snail mail by one week. Both approved within a day of each other. The total wait was three months. The e-file does offer the instant gratification on approval day. This was in November.

Click to expand...

The method you used may not be practical timing method because I have known people who file a lot of ATF paperwork that get multiple forms batch approved even if they are not submitted on the same day. So it looks like the last form filed was completed quicker.