IDENTITY PROTECTION PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS

Some of you may have heard of identity protection personal identification numbers, also known as IP PINs.  IP PINs are six-digit numbers issued by the IRS to taxpayers. These numbers are required to electronically file a federal income tax return.  The goal of the IRS is to prevent fraudulent tax returns.  When the program started there were only two ways to obtain an IP PIN: Be a victim of identity theft or be a resident of Washington D.C., Florida, or Georgia and voluntarily requested an IP PIN.  (These three areas were chosen because they encountered the most tax fraud.)  In its continued effort to combat tax fraud, the IRS is now expanding the ability to voluntarily request an IP PIN to residents of California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, and Rhode Island.  Eventually the IRS would like this program to be nationwide.  Any taxpayer that resides in any of these states (and filed a tax return in the prior year) may go to the IRS website and use the Get an IP PIN online tool to request an identity protection personal identification number.  The website is https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/the-identity-protection-pin-ip-pin.