With tax season coming up, we wanted to inform you and your staff of a new feature being offered by the IRS to protect you from fraud.  After all, the IRS reported it has uncovered $2.3 billion in tax fraud in 2020 and a good portion of that is due to fraudulent returns filed using stolen social security numbers.  In an effort to curb fraudulent returns, they just announced the expansion of a new voluntary authentication feature for your tax returns that can protect you similarly to two-factor.  The new feature is called IP PIN, and it is a six-digit number that can be assigned to taxpayers.   This special six-digit code will prevent someone else from filing a tax return with your social security number unless they also have access to your IP PIN.  The only downside is that it will only be good for one fiscal year and you will have to re-apply again the following January.  But, it is a good start and we recommend that everyone sign up.

To sign up for IP-PIN, please visit https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin this coming January and click the “Get an IP PIN” button.