IRS ID verification heads up

[PATAX]

Client received IRS letter asking her to verify identity in order to receive 2021 refund. Per client, letter gave her a few options: either online, via telephone, or in person. Client said she went online, and first she said she had to register and get password. Then she provided copy of her driver's license. Then she provided a selfie picture which they apparently compared to the license. They asked for her filing status and her pin, efile pin I believe. Everything went okay, and they said it may take nine weeks to process the refund. She received the refund the next day in her bank account. Hope this helps. Just my opinion.

[Camp1040 · Accepted solution]

I had a client who received the same type of letter very early in the filing season, she jumped through all the hoops and received her refund in a reasonable amount of time but less than the nine weeks stated in the letter. 

[BobKamman]

Which commercial software do you think IRS is using for this facial-recognition gambit?  Maybe the same one being used by the Ukrainians to identify dead or captured Russian soldiers?  Does IRS promise to erase all those submitted images as soon as they are used?  Does anyone believe that's what happens?

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

Ive heard several reports of this, the refund arrives before they even verify ID. Im wondering if they fail to verify, if it will hold up the 2022 refund.

[IRonMaN]

"She received the refund the next day in her bank account"

Sounds like it was already in the pipeline before they made her jump through all of the silly hoops.

[BobKamman]

If we're going to share anecdotes, let's share some data.  New address this year for taxpayer?  New bank account?  Does taxpayer have other federal payments going to a different bank account?  If "No" to all, any idea what is making IRS suspicious?  (Other than, maybe last year's return has not yet been processed.)  

[PATAX]

@BobKamman no new address and no new bank account. She is a retired school teacher. Her husband died during the year and he was a retired executive. They had a lot of pension and Ira distributions, and withheld more than enough and received a large refund. Maybe because the husband died during the year and the refund was large was the reason for ID verification. But it could have also been just random , or maybe they wanted to test their new ID verification picture method? I'm not sure. It ended okay, so "all that ends well is well" or whatever that saying is. Just my opinion.

[BobKamman]

@PATAX   Which name and SSN was listed first on the return?

[George4Tacks]

I just logged into my own IRS account the other day and was offered the option switch over to their new ID.ME log in method. What you describe is what I went through. The process switches from browser to text message to browser. Via text I took a picture of the front and back of my driver's license and submitted. The text then told me to go back to my browser and use my computer camera to scan my facial image (weird black and white creepy image of my face) which then verified it matched my driver's license. All of this will theoretically make logging on more secure. When I log in with this new process it uses MFA to text or call me to verify it really is me logging in. 

[PATAX]

@BobKamman I think that is it Bob. This was the first year that I had to make the wife the taxpayer, and the deceased husband the spouse, because Pennsylvania requires in the year of death, in order to efile mfj pa40 return,  that a married filing joint return must have the surviving individual as the taxpayer, and the deceased individual as the spouse. So you are right, that had to be the reason. Thanks.

[dkh]

I've tried to set up my account with no luck.  The facial scanning doesn't think my face matches my driver's license.   

[BobKamman]

@PATAX  I was thinking the problem would be caused by listing the deceased spouse first, and I just finished a return where I did that.  But IRS must be looking at the surviving spouse in your case as a "new" taxpayer.  This reminds me of my joint-return clients with enough income to pay higher Medicare premiums.  The husband, listed first on the return, pays twice as much as the wife.  But the wife's Social Security benefits are paid under the SSN of late husband #1, and the SSA-1099 shows his SS number followed by a "D".  The decrepit IRS computers can't tell Medicare how much she really makes.  

[sjrcpa]

I thought they said they weren't going to use ID.me anymore. Guess not.

[dkh]

Now id.me is the only option available to set up an IRS account.   

[BobKamman]

@dkh "The facial scanning doesn't think my face matches my driver's license."

Would that make cosmetic surgery a deductible business expense?  "I needed the facelift so I could have an IDme account at work."

[dkh]

LOL...... I like that way of thinking.    The tummy tuck and breast implants were "free" when I paid for the facelift.

[TaxGuyBill]

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@sjrcpa wrote:

I thought they said they weren't going to use ID.me anymore. Guess not.

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I think they said they were going to try to switch to a new system sometime this summer.