Reminder for new tax season. Identity Protection PINs (IP PIN) have been updated for 2026 (they are updated every January).
An important “hardening” tactic against identity theft is to obtain an from the IRS. The common scam here is that someone with your name, address, and Social Security Number will file a tax return before you do, and then steal the resulting tax refund for themselves. In 2022, over 228,000 taxpayers filed , Identity Theft Affidavit, which asserts “I know or suspect that someone used my information to fraudulently file a federal tax return”.
Once you opt-in to the IP PIN program, the IRS will not accept any tax return filed during the current calendar year (even for prior years) without this unique six-digit number. Every calendar year in January, you’ll get assigned a new IP PIN. Getting one at any time will still prevent anyone from filing a fraudulent return during the rest of that calendar year.
To do it completely online, you’ll need an ID.me account, which is a third-party provider that the IRS trusts to verify your identity. From their page:
You can use either a self-service process that requires a photo of a government ID and selfie, or a live call with an ID.me video chat agent that doesn’t require biometric data.
I had already set up an ID.me account for another purpose years ago, but I do remember that the selfie method worked eventually for me but my wife had to go for the live video chat method. I’ve also had to deal with problems with rejected ID photos, too much glare, software crashes, etc.
If you forget your PIN, you can always sign back into your IRS.gov account and view it again under your Profile. This is another reason to take extra care with your ID.me/IRS.gov passwords and MFA methods. ID.me lets you set up a TOTP Authenticator app for MFA. Also set a reminder to use it when you eventually file taxes, so your return doesn’t get rejected.
More information at the (that’s a lot of acronyms!).
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