IRS to Migrate Online Services to Third-Party Provider
The IRS recently announced in an email to tax professionals that it plans to migrate online services to the third-party provider ID.me this summer.
In the email, the IRS stated that the following services will be affected:
- Affordable Care Act (ACA) for Transmitter Control Code (TCC)
- Application Program Interface (API) Client ID Application
- e-File Application
- Information Returns (IR) for TCC
- Income Verification Express Service (IVES) Application
- State Applications (State EFIN and TDS State)
- TIN Matching, including Bulk and Interactive TIN Matching
- Transcript Delivery System (TDS)
- Secure Object Repository (SOR)
- Modernized e-File (MeF)
- ACA Information Returns (AIR)
To prepare for the migration, the IRS stated that tax professionals can set up an ID.me account now using Tax Pro Account.
The IRS began using ID.me last November to authenticate taxpayers creating new online taxpayer accounts. Not long after the launch, privacy advocates and Congress raised concerns about ID.me requiring taxpayers to use selfies for facial recognition and submit government documents such as passports and driver’s licenses to the IRS. In response, the IRS allowed users to opt out of the facial recognition biometric requirements and participate in a virtual interview option with agents instead.
In a recent Senate oversight hearing, IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig was asked about the IRS’s plans to transition from ID.me to the federal government’s Login.gov service. Rettig stated that Login.gov does not yet have the capacity to handle the activity that the IRS is used to getting on its online services, but the IRS is working with Login.gov to improve capacity.