WASHINGTON – The Security Summit partners today encouraged tax professionals to increase their efforts to inform clients about the IRS Identity Protection PIN Opt-In Program to help protect people against tax-related identity theft.

The IP PIN serves as a critical defense against identity thieves. The IRS, state tax agencies and the nation’s tax industry – working together as the Security Summit  – need assistance from tax professionals to let their clients know that IP PINs are now available to anyone who can verify their identity.

Sharing information about the IP PIN Opt-In Program is the first in a five-part weekly summer series sponsored by the Summit partners to highlight critical steps tax professionals can take to protect client data – and their businesses. The series is an effort to urge tax professionals to intensify efforts to secure their systems and protect client data during the summer and throughout the year. These alerts will be issued each Tuesday for five weeks to coincide with the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums, which helps educate tax professionals on security and other important topics.

“These identity protection numbers provide an extra layer of safety to protect people against tax-related fraud tied to using stolen personal information,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “Following work by the IRS, the IP PIN program is now available to anyone who can verify their identity. We urge tax professionals to encourage their clients to protect themselves through the IP PIN program.”

The Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee, or ETAAC, last month highlighted the importance of the IP PIN to taxpayers and tax professionals.

“The IP PIN is the number one security tool currently available to taxpayers from the IRS,” the independent advisory group said in its annual report to Congress. “This tool is the key to making it more difficult for criminals to file false tax returns in the name of the taxpayer. In our view, the benefits of increased IP PIN use are many.”

The ETAAC also recommended the IRS continue to highlight and promote the IP PIN through a public awareness effort. The IRS will be taking steps to do that, including building off awareness of special items including  Publication 5367, IP PIN Opt-In Program for Taxpayers, in English and Spanish, so that tax professionals could print and share the IP PIN information with clients. There are also special posters available in English and Spanish.

For security reasons, tax professionals cannot obtain an IP PIN on behalf of clients. Taxpayers must obtain their own IP PIN.

Summit partners urged taxpayers and tax professionals to be careful and protect the IP PIN from identity thieves. Taxpayers should share their IP PIN only with their trusted tax prep provider. Tax professionals should never store clients’ IP PINs on computer systems. Also, the IRS will never call, email or text either taxpayers or tax preparers to request the IP PIN.

Tax professionals who experience a data theft can assist clients by urging them to quickly obtain an IP PIN. Even if a thief already has filed a fraudulent return, an IP PIN would still offer protections for later years and prevent taxpayers from being repeat victims of tax-related identity theft.

Here are a few things taxpayers should know about the IP PIN:

• It’s a six-digit number known only to the taxpayer and the IRS.
• The opt-in program is voluntary.
• The IP PIN should be entered onto the electronic tax return when prompted by the software product or onto a paper return next to the signature line.
• The IP PIN is valid for one calendar year; taxpayers must obtain a new IP PIN each year.
• Only taxpayers who can verify their identities may obtain an IP PIN.
• IP PIN users should never share their number with anyone but the IRS and their trusted tax preparation provider. The IRS will never call, email or text a request for the IP PIN.

To obtain an IP PIN, the best option is the Get an IP PIN, the IRS online tool. Taxpayers must validate their identities through Secure Access authentication to access the tool and their IP PIN. Before attempting this rigorous process, see Secure Access: How to Register for Certain Online Self-Help Tools.

If taxpayers are unable to validate their identity online and if their income is $72,000 or less, they may file Form 15227, Application for an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number. The IRS will call the telephone number provided on Form 15227 to validate their identity. However, for security reasons, the IRS will assign an IP PIN for the next filing season. The IP PIN cannot be used for the current filing season.

Taxpayers who cannot validate their identities online, or on the phone with an IRS employee after submitting a Form 15227, or who are ineligible to file a Form 15227 may call the IRS to make an appointment at a Taxpayer Assistance Center. They will need to bring one picture identification document and another identification document to prove their identity. Once verified, the taxpayer will receive an IP PIN via U.S. Postal Service within three weeks.

The IP PIN process for confirmed victims of identity theft remains unchanged. These victims will automatically receive an IP PIN each year.

Additional resources
Tax professionals also can get help with security recommendations by reviewing the recently revised IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data, and Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The IRS Identity Theft Central pages for tax pros, individuals and businesses have important details as well.

Publication 5293, Data Security Resource Guide for Tax Professionals, provides a compilation of data theft information available on IRS.gov. Also, tax professionals should stay connected to the IRS through subscriptions to e-News for Tax Professionals and Social Media.

For more information, see go to IRS.gov.

Revenue Ruling 2022-14 provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes including the applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted federal long-term rate, and the adjusted federal long-term tax-exempt rate. These rates are determined as prescribed by § 1274. 

The rates are published monthly for purposes of sections 42, 382, 412, 642, 1288, 1274, 7520, 7872, and various other sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

Revenue Ruling 2022-14 will be in IRB:  2022-31, dated August 1, 2022.

WASHINGTON — The IRS today issued a revised set of frequently asked questions for the 2021 Child Tax Credit. These frequently asked questions (FAQs) are released to the public in Fact Sheet 2022-32, July 14, 2022.

The FAQ revisions are:

Topic B — Eligibility for Advance Child Tax Credit Payments and the 2021 Child Tax Credit: Removed question 7 and renumbered question 8.

More information about reliance is available.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Trade Commission will sponsor a free webinar designed to help everyone recognize and combat tax scams and tax-related identity theft.

The webinar will also explain how any individual taxpayer can receive an added layer of identity protection by applying for an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN) from the IRS.

The one-hour webinar will take place on Wednesday, July 20 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Open to all, the webinar will cover the following topics:

The webinar will be closed captioned and feature a question-and-answer session. To register for the webinar, visit the Internal Revenue Service Webinar Registration page on IRS.gov. For questions about the webinar, send an email to cl.sl.web.conference.team@irs.gov.

Whether attending the webinar or not, anyone can get more information about recognizing and combating tax-related ID theft at IRS.gov/identitytheft. To apply for an IP PIN or for more information about the Identity Protection Personal Identification Number program, visit IRS.gov/ippin.

WASHINGTON — With millions of people still waiting to file their tax returns, the IRS reminds them to file as soon as possible and take advantage of special tools available on IRS.gov that can help them file.

Summer may be a busy time for many, but it’s a great time to start tax planning - whether you still need to file a 2021 tax return or start planning for next year’s tax season. IRS.gov is the fastest and most convenient way to get tax-related information and help. The online tools are available any time, so taxpayers can use them at their convenience.

Here are some important reasons for taxpayers to visit IRS.gov this summer.

Get tax information 24/7
Taxpayers can use IRS.gov to:

Taxpayers can also download the official IRS mobile app, IRS2Go, to check their refund status, make payments, find free tax preparation assistance, sign up for helpful tax tips and more.

Adjust withholding now to avoid tax surprises next year
Summer is a great time for taxpayers to check their withholding to avoid a tax surprise next filing season. Life events like marriage, divorce, having a child or a change in income can affect taxes.

The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator on IRS.gov helps employees assess their income tax, credits, adjustments and deductions, and determine whether they need to change their withholding. If a change is recommended, the estimator will provide instructions to update their withholding with their employer either online or by submitting a new Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate.

File electronically
Taxpayers who requested an extension to Oct. 17 or missed the April 18 deadline can still prepare and e-file returns for free with IRS Free File, if they qualify. The IRS accepts electronically filed returns 24/7. There’s no reason to wait until Oct. 17 if filers have all the information and documentation they need to file an accurate return today. They can get their refund faster by choosing direct deposit.

Taxpayers who missed the April 18 deadline and owe should file and pay electronically as soon as possible to reduce penalties and interest. Taxpayers can make payments or set up payment plans online at IRS.gov/payments.

Find a taxpayer assistance center
The Taxpayer Assistance Center Locator tool has a new look and feel, featuring a dynamic map, a directions button and two tabs for inputting search criteria. It’s important to remember that Taxpayer Assistance Centers operate by appointment only. Taxpayers can make an appointment by calling the number for the office they want to visit.

Read information in other languages
Many pages on IRS.gov are now available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Haitian Creole and Chinese. Some of the multilingual resources include the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, e-file resources and many tax forms and publications.

Access the Alternative Media Center
At the online Alternative Media Center (AMC), taxpayers will find a variety of accessible products to help with the use of assistive technology such as screen reading software, refreshable Braille displays and screen magnifying software. These products include tax forms, instructions and publications that can be downloaded or viewed online as Section 508 compliant PDFs, HTML, eBraille, text and large print.

Please note that every product is not available in all formats. For example, tax forms are not available as HTML. To request paper copies of tax forms or instructions or publications in Braille or large print, taxpayers can call the tax form telephone number at 800-829-3676. Taxpayers can complete Form 9000, Alternative Media Preference, to choose to receive their IRS tax notices in Braille, large print, audio or electronic formats. This includes notices about additional taxes or penalties owed. Taxpayers can include the completed form with their tax return, mail it as a standalone form to the IRS or they can call 800-829-1040.

Keep current with IRS Tax Tips
Taxpayers can subscribe to IRS Tax Tips to get easy-to-read articles sent directly to their e-mail from the IRS. Tax Tips are brief, to the point and cover various tax topics, like year-round tax planning and understanding taxpayer rights.

More helpful links:

• Gig Economy Tax Center
• Child and Dependent Care Credit
• About Form W-2

A recent legislative change requires taxpayers to submit all of their income tax payments electronically if:

• Any estimated tax payment exceeds $1,500; or
• Any extension payment exceeds $1,500; or
• The total anticipated income tax liability in any taxable year exceeds $6,000.

Individual taxpayers should start making all of their payments electronically if any of the above conditions apply to them. This includes all payments for estimated taxes, extension payments, and any other amounts due when a taxpayer files a return. 

We’re sending letters to taxpayers who may meet this requirement with their estimated tax payment, which is due September 15.

Visit the Virginia Tax website for more information on individual income tax payment options.  

If you have questions, please call us at 804.367.8031. 

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service, one of the largest single employers of professional accountants, is now hiring 470 revenue agents who will specialize in auditing or examining both individual and business taxpayers nationwide.

Known officially as Internal Revenue Agents, these positions are at Grades 5-12 in the federal civil service system with a base pay ranging from $31,083 to $68,299.

New hires will join the agency’s Small Business Self Employed (SB/SE) division, where they will combine talents in accounting and tax law to examine and determine the correct tax liability for a variety of both individual and business taxpayers, including sole proprietorships, small corporations, partnerships, and fiduciaries. They will also be responsible for identifying potential fraud, tax schemes and abusive tax shelters.

To qualify for one of these positions, an applicant must have a Bachelor's or higher degree in accounting from an accredited college or university that includes:

Throughout July, The IRS is holding a series of virtual Information Sessions for interested applicants. These sessions provide an overview of the position, benefits of working at the IRS, how to apply for the position, and a Q&A session. Here is the schedule:

To attend any of these events, register at USAJOBS - Events.

1.  2022 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum launches next week

This Thursday, July 14, is the last day to register for the 2022 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum and have access to all 32 webinars, including the keynote address by IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. The five-week program, fully virtual this year, begins Tuesday, July 19 and runs through Thursday, Aug. 18.

The IRS Nationwide Tax Forum is a once-a-year opportunity for tax professionals to:

For a closer look at the tax forum, watch the Five Things to Know segment on Tax Talk Today.

2.  Webinar schedule

This year’s tax forum includes 32 livestreamed webinars, offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from July 19 to Aug. 18. Visit the IRS Nationwide Tax Forum website for a detailed schedule and the topic descriptions for this year’s webinars. The live webinars are not recorded and only available on the date/time listed in the schedule.

3.  Spanish language webinars

This year, the IRS Nationwide Tax Forum is doubling its offering of Spanish webinars and will deliver the following:

4.  Virtual Expo

Registration for the 2022 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum includes access to the Virtual Expo, where attendees can meet with commercial vendors, IRS tax professional association partners and representatives from many parts of the IRS itself. Hours for the expo are 12-2 p.m. ET and 3-5 p.m. ET, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the five-week tax forum program.

Exhibitors include:

The expo also features bonus question and answer sessions with webinar presenters in the “Speaker’s Corner” and live webinars from tax forum sponsors.

5.  Focus groups and digital product demonstrations

Registered attendees can also participate in IRS focus groups. This year’s focus groups are arranged around the following topics:

In addition, the IRS Office of Online Services will conduct demonstrations of IRS digital products.

Check out the tax forum focus group descriptions for this year’s topics, dates and times, and qualifying criteria.

6.  Continuing education credit

Each live webinar will last for approximately 60 minutes and will qualify for one continuing education (CE) credit.* The maximum number of CE credits earned at the 2022 virtual tax forum is 28. While no knowledge-based test is required, attendees must fulfill the following requirements to receive credit for a webinar:

*Note: In the event a registrant attends both the English and Spanish language versions of a webinar, the registrant will receive one CE credit for that webinar.

7.  Registration information

For more information about this year’s IRS Nationwide Tax Forum and to register, visit www.irstaxforum.com.

WASHINGTON – As the battle continues against tax-related identity theft, the IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry renewed their call for tax professionals to be on guard against new and ongoing threats involving their systems and taxpayer data.

This effort begins next week with the Security Summit’s annual summer campaign focused on tax professionals and taking fundamental steps to stop data theft from their offices. This is the seventh year that the Security Summit partners – the IRS, state tax agencies and the nation’s tax community – have worked to raise awareness about these issues through the “Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself” campaign.

The special five-part news release series will begin July 19 and run every Tuesday through Aug. 16, which coincides with the dates for this year’s IRS Nationwide Tax Forum. The forum will feature 32 webinars to help educate the tax professional community, and several involve security-related features. This Thursday, July 14, is the last day for tax professionals to register to attend and have access to all 32 webinars. For more information and to register, visit www.irstaxforum.com.

“The IRS and the Security Summit partners continue to advance their shared efforts to protect the federal and state tax systems from identity thieves,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “As we’ve increased our defenses, cyberthieves increasingly turn to tax professionals, especially smaller operations, to look for security vulnerabilities. This is a critical link in protecting sensitive taxpayer information.  By taking some basic security steps, tax pros help protect against the relentless efforts of identity thieves.”

This summer’s effort focuses on a reminder for tax pros to focus on fundamentals and to watch out for emerging vulnerabilities being seen for those practitioners using cloud-based services for their practice.

Identity thieves were especially active this past year as they continued to use the pandemic, nationwide teleworking practices and other events as predatory tactics for a variety of scams.

Tax professionals are prime targets of criminal syndicates that are both tech- and tax-savvy and well-funded. These scammers either trick or hack their way into tax professionals’ computer systems to access client data. Even when tax pros think they have client data stored in a secure cloud, lack of strong authentication can make this information vulnerable.

Thieves can use stolen data to file fraudulent tax returns that make it more difficult for the IRS and the states to detect because the fraudulent returns use real financial information. Other data thieves sell the basic tax preparer or taxpayer information on the web so other fraudsters can try filing fraudulent tax returns.

The Security Summit formed in 2015 to join the fight against identity theft. The Summit partners made great inroads against tax-related identity theft, dramatically reducing confirmed identity theft returns and saving billions in tax dollars.

During the next five weeks, the Security Summit partners will highlight a series of simple actions that tax professionals can take to better protect their clients and themselves from sensitive data theft. Taking these steps now will help ensure that the progress in tax-related identity theft that started in 2015 continues. Highlighted recommendations will be to:

This summer series runs for five weeks and coincides with the annual IRS Nationwide Tax Forums, which are being held virtually beginning July 19. The forums feature three webinars focused on cyber- and information security that will be live streamed as follows:

For more information about the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums and to register visit www.IRSTaxForum.com.

IRS Nationwide Tax Forum kicks off July 19; July 14 is the last day to register for all 32 webinars

IRS YouTube Videos:
2022 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum – English

WASHINGTON — This Thursday, July 14, is the last day for tax professionals to register to attend the 2022 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum and have access to all 32 webinars -- including a keynote address by IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, updates on tax law, cybersecurity, practitioner ethics and more.

The 2022 virtual event is being held over a five-week period from July 19 through Aug. 18. Webinars will be livestreamed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays of each week. To guarantee access to a webinar, registration must be completed a minimum of three business days in advance. Participants who register after July 14 will not have access to the full lineup of webinars.

Participants are encouraged to view the Forum schedule and course descriptions to plan their experience.

For more information and to register, visit www.irstaxforum.com.

Tax Forum Virtual Expo

Included with their registration, attendees may also visit the Forum’s Virtual Expo with dozens of exhibitors representing tax and business services, IRS association partners and key IRS offices and initiatives in the “IRS Zone.”

The Expo will be staffed from noon-2 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. EDT every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, permitting attendees to interact with exhibitors. However, registrants will have access to most Expo content 24 hours a day from for the entire length of the Forum.

Focus groups and digital product demos

As a special feature of the 2022 Forum, the IRS invites attendees to participate in one or more virtual focus groups. Focus groups are arranged around the following topics:

• Improving the Taxpayer Experience and IRS Services
• Improving the Taxpayer Experience and IRS Outreach
• Tax Pro Account and Business Online Account
• Digital Asset Transactions
• Tax Treatment of Retirement Distributions
• Affordable Care Act Forms
• IRS Online Accounts
• Responding to IRS Correspondence Audit Notices
• Taxpayer civil rights: Are your clients receiving the services they need?
• Online tools and resources for refundable credits: The past, the present, and the future

In addition to our focus groups, the Office of Online Services will conduct demonstrations of the IRS tax pro and individual online accounts.

Continuing Education (CE)

Attendance at any of the 2022 Nationwide Tax Forum webinars qualifies as continuing education (CE) for enrolled agents, certified public accountants, Annual Filing Season Program participants, California Tax Education Council (CTEC) participants and Certified Financial Planners (CFP).

Note: With four seminars this year presented in both English and Spanish, participants can earn up to 28 continuing education credits.

Attorneys: Please check with your state bar to determine whether participation in the IRS Nationwide Tax Forum seminars qualifies for continuing legal education credit.

Visit the CE and CFP Certification page for more information.

Registration information

For more information and to register online, visit www.irstaxforum.com.