The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) is implementing new requirements for taxpayers who use the Income Verification Express Service (“IVES”), a service companies use when signing off on the incomes of loan applicants. The new safeguards are part of a larger effort to protect taxpayers and fortify authentication standards.
The new requirements were sent to IVES participants shortly after the IRS announced the initiative. Among others, the requirements involve collecting data to verify participant clients and the individuals that clients authorize to submit and receive IRS transcripts on the clients’ behalf. The IRS will not deliver borrower income transcripts unless IVES participants certify their compliance with the new requirements. Additional safeguards include requiring individuals to have strong passwords and unique login credentials.
The new protections reflect initiatives being taken elsewhere in the tax system. Recently, the IRS shut down the electronic filing (“e-file”) PIN tool, a tool to assist with electronic tax filing, after criminals attacked the system and stole PIN numbers. The IRS is taking these steps in an attempt to protect taxpayer information and combat potential fraud.
The new requirements are in effect as of July 1, 2016.
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