 Internal Revenue Service IRS tax news, Security Summit, Identity Protection, PIN, PINs provide an important defense against tax-related identity theft. The Security Summit, like the new Justice League, except headed by Superman's son, who doesn't use his superpowers anymore, believe in the real power in the world to fight the big problems like global warming and tax-related identity theft, is by joining protesters with picket signs. Superman's son, mind you, who I presume could do just about anything to fix the problem with a picket sign. I mean, could you imagine Superman with a picket sign and a bunch of protesters? I don't think so. I mean, honestly, you know what Superman would have done about the whole global warming thing? He would have just, like, gone to the North Pole and just blowing on some glaciers with a super cool breath, making more ice, problem solved. And then the protesters could go ahead and just burn those picket signs without any worries about it, eating up the earth or anything. Whatever. I got a little off track. First an attempt at a joke. They just keep hitting it. They just keep hitting the same line. It's the oil companies and Putin's price hike. I mean, it's like a crazy person hitting a pile of dust with a stick over and over again. Bystanders asking, what are they doing to hit the ground with that stick over and over like that? What are you doing? Well, apparently they're beating a horse. AJ, I think you're beating a dead. Really? It just looks like a pile of dust. All we are is dust in the wind, dude. Well, it used to be a horse. It's like, well, how long have they been beating that horse? The poor thing must have died back in the time of Cain Abel and Young Biden. IR2022-140 July 19, 2022, Washington, the security summit partners today encourage tax professionals to increase their efforts to inform clients about the IRS identity protection PIN opt-in program to help protect people against tax-related identity theft. The IPPIN, otherwise known as the IPPIN, the IPPIN serves a critical defense against identity theft. So let me give you a quick recap on kind of a history as I understand it of the IPPIN. This was used basically before when people had their identity stolen. Someone filed a fraudulent tax return because they had the social security number and other information in order to do so. And then the IRS had to fix it. And what they would then do to stop future identity theft in filing fraudulent tax returns is issue an IPPIN, which you could think of as kind of like a second social security number, an identification number to stop people from being able to file a fraudulent tax return. They basically expanded that program. Now it's my understanding of it so that you can opt in to get an IPPIN before someone actually steals your identity. And you would think, given the fact that the social security numbers these days are never changed and we're in the world of the Internet, that it's quite likely that, you know, people's social security numbers could be compromised and so on. And so and now we have a situation where the lower income tax returns are more valuable to identity thieves because there's a lot of these kind of like welfare or benefit programs in them, meaning if you have a lower income, you can still get a refund through the refundable credits, things like child tax credit and earned income tax credits and so on. Making the demand for thieves to steal identity in order to file fraudulent returns go up. So now we're going to need to have more vigilant defense against that. And one of those ways is possibly to get an IPPIN, which is kind of like a second social security number just for your tax related stuff that would change, I believe, on a yearly basis, making it more difficult for people to steal, but a little bit more burdensome than just remembering the one social security number since the time we were two, and it never changes. And then we got to give it to everybody that we do business with and so on and so forth and hope that it doesn't get spread out on the Internet now that we have this kind of Internet viral thing, which is kind of a vain hope it seems to me for a lot of time. But in any case, the IRA state tax agencies in the nation's tax industry working together as the security summit, there's a link to that here. I need assistance from tax professionals to let their clients know that IPPINs are now available to anyone who can verify their identity. So that's what I'm doing here. I'm assisting the security summit to let them let people know about that you should get an IPPIN because there's bad guys out there trying to steal stuff from you. So sharing information about the IPPIN opt-in program is the first in a five part weekly summer series sponsored by the summit partners to highlight critical steps tax professionals can take to protect client data and their businesses. Next, we're going to go out with picket signs on the next one. Now just kidding. So the series is an effort to urge tax professionals to intensify efforts to secure their systems and protect client data during the summer and throughout the year. So protect yourself, people. That's what we're telling you. There's bad guys. These alerts will be issued each Tuesday for five weeks to coincide with the IRS National Tax Forum, which helps educate tax professionals on security and other important topics quote, these identity protection numbers provide an extra layer of safety to protect people against tax related fraud tied to using stolen personal information and quotes that IRS Commissioner Chuck Reddick quote, following work by the IRS. The IPPIN program is now available to anyone who can verify their identity. We urge tax professionals to encourage their clients to protect themselves through the IPPIN program. So if you're a tax professional, you might want to do that because that could of course be beneficial for you as well. The IRS is basically saying it looks to us it seems to me they're saying it looks to us like more people are vulnerable. There's more demand for stealing identity. Try to protect your clients. That's be good for tax professionals, of course, too, because you don't want to have to go through the pain of the process of dealing with someone who's had a fraudulent tax return filed and then you try to file it. And then, you know, it's a problem and problem. And so we tried to preemptively stop that. The Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee otherwise known as the ETAAC, which you would think would be like the extraterrestrial alcoholic anonymous committee or something by now. But no, it's the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee, the ETAAC last month highlight the importance of the IPPIN to taxpayers and tax professionals quote, the IPPIN is the number one security tool currently available to taxpayers from the IRS in quote, the independent advisory group said in its annual report to Congress quote, this tool is the key to making it more difficult for criminals to file false tax returns and that's in the name of the taxpayer in our view, the benefits of increased IPPIN use are many in quote, the ETAAC that I just keep on picturing ET from that old movie, but he's drunk and an alcoholic, but that's not what it stands for. That's not what it stands for. The ETAAC also recommended the IRS continue to highlight and promote the IPPIN, the IPPIN through a public awareness effort. The IRS will be taking steps to do that, including building off awareness of special items, including publication 5367, that's the IPPIN opt in program for taxpayers. There's a link to that here. It's in English and Spanish so that tax professionals could print and share the IPPIN information with clients. So you got this kind of thing that you can send out in your newsletter about the IPPIN encouraging people to sign up for it possibly. There are also special posters available in English and Spanish. So they got posters. That's how we're going to get this. We're going to save the world with posters. So for security reasons, tax professionals cannot obtain an IPPIN on behalf of clients. So you can't do it yourself. They're going to say, why don't you get it for me that you could do it. That's fine. You can say no, because this is your thing. It's like your social security number. You have to do it, client. Okay, I'm sorry. This is one thing that you have to do yourself. Taxpayers must obtain their own IPPIN. Summit partners urge taxpayers and tax professionals to be careful and protect the IPPIN from identity thieves. Taxpayers should share their IPPIN only with their trusted tax provider. Tax professionals should never store clients IPPINs on computer systems. Also, the IRS will never call email or text either taxpayers or tax preparers to request the IPPIN. So it's kind of like a social security number. Don't give it away to everybody. Stop posting it on social media. Stop tweeting your social your social security number out. That's not a good idea or the IPPIN people. You know, that's just common sense. In any case, tax professionals who experience a data theft can assist clients by urging them to quickly obtain an IPPIN. Even if a theft already has filed a fraudulent return, the IPPIN would still offer protection for later years and prevent taxpayers from being repeat victims of tax related identity theft. So here are a few things taxpayers should know about the IPPIN. The IPPIN, it's a six digit number, known only to the taxpayer and the IRS. So it's like only a who's who knows knows kind of thing. You and the IRS have this secret secret that everybody else wants to know, but no, you're not going to tell them. So the opt-in program is voluntary, meaning you got to you got to take the first step to get in the secret club between you and the IRS. The IPPIN should be entered into the electronic tax return when prompted by the software product or into a paper return next to the signature line. So when you file the tax return, you're going to have to put the IPPIN like a number like a second social security number because that's the point. You need that in order to file the tax return now. So the IPPIN is valid for one calendar year. Taxpayers must obtain a new IPPIN each year. So hopefully that is an easy process, but that would clearly heighten the level of security if you changed your IPPIN. So even if you posted tweets about what your IPPIN and put it on your face, on your face account, you face the book of faces, then even if even if that happened, then you can change it. So even that won't stop you from pushing forward. So only taxpayers who can verify their identities may obtain an IPPIN. So they got to know who you are, of course, to give you an IPPIN because it's an identity thing. So it like if they gave it to someone and they couldn't confirm the identity, you would think it'd be but indicate IPPIN users should never share their number with anyone. But the IRS and their trusted tax preparer provider, the IRS will never call email or text to request for the IPPIN. To obtain an IPPIN, the best option is to get an IPPIN. There's a link to that here. It's on the IRS online tool. Taxpayers must validate their identities through secure access authentication. So I don't think they're asking for your face identification anymore like they were to sign into an account because I think they were trying to rule the world for a while with like the facial recognition and then they're going to put cameras and the whole world and everybody's like, you know, they got the facial thing, but I don't think they're going that far anymore. So I think you could get authentication like normal ways like your bank does and stuff without that maniacal world control, you know, from the IRS thing. So to access the tool and their IPPIN, the IPPIN before attempting this rigorous process, see secure access, how to register for certain online self help tools. There's a link to that here. If taxpayers are unable to validate their identity online and if their income is below $73,000 for individuals or below $146,000 for married couples, they may file form 15227 application for an identity protection personal identification number. There's a link to that here. The IRS will call the telephone number provided on form 15227 to validate their identity. So if they do try to do that, they go to the facial recognition and you're like, wait a second, the IRS is trying to track everyone and follow, you know, do crazy weird stuff. Again, then maybe you maybe you go to the paper form here and try it that way where they're going to confirm with a phone number possibly if your income is below the threshold to be able to do so. However, for security reasons, the IRS will sign an IPPIN and IPPIN for the next filing season. The IPPIN cannot be used for the current filing season. Taxpayers who cannot validate their identities online or on the phone with the IRS employee after submitting a form 15227 or who are ineligible to file a form 15227 may call the IRS to make an appointment at a taxpayer assistance center. So step one, try to file online. Step two, see if you can file the form 15227 if you can't do it online. And you can try it that way. But if you can't do that or that that doesn't work for whatever reason, you can actually talk to an IRS agent. I know it's crazy. They you could they're real. I've never seen one in the last five years. But yeah, apparently, you might be able to actually locate one. And then they can check your identity with the old fashioned ID card, like you're going into a bar or something like that. Can't I just go to the local bouncer and they tell they've checked the identity. They're better at it than you guys are any case. So they will need to bring one picture identification document and another identification document to prove their identity. Once verified, the taxpayer will receive an IPPIN and IPPIN via US Postal Service within three weeks. The IPPIN IPPIN process for confirmed victims of identity theft remains unchanged. So if you've already been a victim, meaning it sounds like you've been like someone shot you or something. But no, that means something someone stole your identity and filed a fraudulent tax return victimizing you from the identity theft thing. So it's not like the worst victimization you can have afflicting you but it could be problematic. And that and then you file for the IPPIN in that case, but you could do it preemptively. Now that's the new thing. So these victims will automatically receive an IPPIN. Additional resources, tax professionals also can get help with security recommendations by reviewing the recently revised IRS publication for 557 safeguarding taxpayer data. There's a link to that here and small business information security, the fundamentals. There's a link to that here by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the IRS identity theft central page. There's a link to that here for tax pros, individuals and businesses have important details as well. Publication 5293 data security resource guide for tax professionals. There's a link to that here provides a compilation of data theft information available on IRS.gov IRS.gov IRS.gov also tax payers should stay connected to the IRS through subscriptions to e news for tax professionals and social media. Make sure to follow the the IRS socials. You don't want to miss one single tweet. I don't I don't do I don't follow their tweets. But I do look at their news, which is right here. This is what I'm following right here. That's what I do. So for more information, you can go to IRS.gov IRS.gov and there's also links to all this stuff here and there'll be a link to this in the description.