To access important tax documents, you’ll need to upload facial-recognition scans to third-party verifier ID.me. We’ll explain how to do it.
Peter Butler, Clifford Colby Jan. 20, 2022 9:16 a.m. PT
If you’re filing your 2021 taxes online, you’ll soon be required to submit a selfie to the Internal Revenue Service to verify your identity before accessing your account.
To protect users’ privacy and reduce fraud, the IRS has contracted with ID.me, a third-party service with an exhaustive registration process that includes taking a video selfie with a smartphone or webcam-enabled computer, as well as submitting sensitive government documents and verifying your credit history.
You can still access basic tax info without registering, but starting this summer the new verification procedure will be needed to view and make payments, access the Child Tax Credit Update Portal and perform “other routine tasks,” according to a November 2021 release, with additional IRS applications transitioning to the new method over the course of 2022.
How do I sign up for an ID.me account?
Before you get started with ID.me, you’ll need the following:
- Your Social Security number (you do not need the physical card)
- A driver’s license, US passport, or US passport card
- A smartphone or computer with a camera
1. Visit the “Your Online Account” page on the IRS website and click the button marked Sign into your online account. You’ll be given the option of creating a new ID.me account or signing in to an existing account. Click the white ID.me Create an account button to start the registration process.
2. Next, enter your email address and choose a strong password. ID.me requires that passwords be eight characters or longer with at least one capital letter, one lowercase letter and a number. Confirm your password, click the check box to accept ID.me’s terms and conditions and then click Create account.
Read the entire process HERE.