Tax ID Theft Protection on the Way
Image Credit: http://media.graytvinc.com/
With the incidents of tax id theft on rise, the IRS is working on curbing this out of control issue.
Ordinarily, you would have had to be a victim of tax id theft to apply for the IRS Pin. In an effort to be proactive, the Internal Revenue Service is testing a program in Florida, Georgia and the District of Columbia, where incidence of tax id theft are high, taxpayers can obtain an Identity Protection PIN (personal identification number). The IP PIN is a six-digit number that must be used on a tax return, in addition to one’s Social Security number, to verify the identity of the filer. Without this PIN, the IRS will not accept a tax return. The process if fairly simple and took me under 15 minutes. Be prepared though. You will need:
- Social Security number (SSN)
- Date of Birth
- Email address
- Filing status
- Mailing address from your most recently filed tax return
You will be asked to verify some details from your credit file to authenticate it is you.
The website is http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-An-Identity-Protection-PIN
