Yardley CPA Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Article in the Journal of Accountancy offers information on the IRS's efforts to expand the Protection Pin Program: https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2019/feb/irs-identity-protection-pins-201920605.html?utm_source=mnl:alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=08Feb2019&utm_content=button Identity protection PIN program expands By Sally P. Schreiber, J.D. The IRS is expanding to seven additional states its voluntary program for taxpayers who wish to obtain identity protection personal identification numbers (IP PINs) and are not currently victims of tax return identity theft. The pilot program originally involved Washington, D.C., Florida, and Georgia. IP PINs will now be available in seven more states: California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, and Rhode Island. Those states report the highest number of identity thefts to the Federal Trade Commission. An IP PIN is a six-digit number assigned to eligible taxpayers to prevent their Social Security number (SSN) from being used on fraudulent federal income tax returns. It allows the IRS to verify taxpayers’ identities when they file their return. This prevents a criminal from filing a tax return using the IP PIN holder’s SSN. The voluntary program permits taxpayers who last year filed a tax return from one of those states to obtain an IP PIN by using the IRS’s Get an IP PIN tool to authenticate their identities. To obtain an IP PIN, taxpayers must validate their identities through a two-factor authentication process called Secure Access. The pilot program will not have a manual option for taxpayers who fail to authenticate their identities. Any taxpayer in the listed states may obtain an IP PIN. The IRS will continue to issue by mail IP PINs to taxpayers who are confirmed victims of tax-related identity theft. However, these taxpayers may also use the Get an IP PIN tool to obtain an IP PIN immediately. Once the IRS determines its systems can handle the expansion of the program to the additional states, it hopes to be able to offer it to taxpayers in every state. The AICPA has long supported expansion of the IP PIN system and has urged the IRS to consider issuing IP PINs to all individuals. (See, for example, the AICPA comment letter to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee dated Sept. 15, 2015.) — Sally Schreiber, J.D., ([email protected]) is a JofA senior editor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee B Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 All right, another challenge for hackers ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 IP PINs work and have stopped a lot of fraudulent returns, but we all know that some the letters the IRS sends out each year with your new IP PIN will be lost in the mail lost by the taxpayer or sent to an old address Then we'll end up having to paper file without a PIN (if it's October) or extend and wait for a new PIN letter. Supposedly, if you have an IRS account, you can login and download your PIN letter, or maybe it's just request a new one be mailed? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraEA Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 I have clients who had a fake return filed under their SS#s one year, got IP PINs the next year, and that return rejected because one had already been filed. Apparently that year this happened fairly often not because of a hack, but because the thieves knew enough about the taxpayers to answer the questions and get a new number. They must have been getting credit reports on the victims and therefore knew prior addresses, what bank had their mortgage, etc. The IRS temporarily shut down the online IP PIN website after enough of these events happened, so I'm wondering what is different now. That said, refund ID theft has diminished a lot thanks to the security summit, which shares info quickly, multiple arrests, and some of the secret data transmitted along with the efile like time spent on preparation. Ever leave a return open when you went home? I guess if it took 10 hours it won't sound any alarms. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max W Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 6 hours ago, SaraEA said: They must have been getting credit reports on the victims and therefore knew prior addresses, what bank had their mortgage, etc. Maybe from the Equifax hack? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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