On Wed, 17 Jan 2024 11:30:39 EST, Boris wrote:
> I used to be able to simply log in to 
www.irs.gov, using an id (not an 
> email), and a password, in order to make payments, see history, etc.
Yup, me too. It was simple, and it came with 2-factor authentication 
if I recall correctly, so the need for the new system is not clear to 
me.
 
> Now, I can't get in the usual way.  It seems like I have to get an "ID.me" 
> account, whereby I need to use my smartphone to take a picture and upload 
> either my passport or driver's license.
> 
> Is this new?  Does the old simple way still work?
The old way does not work, or at least it didn't for me when I tried 
it out of curiosity in the first week of this year, using the 
credentials that had worked in September. It didn't say my 
credentials were wrong, but rather something to the effect that that 
form of sign-in was no longer accepted and ID.me was required.
This has been coming for a while. Some time around the middle of last 
year, when it was still optional, I started to set up an ID.me 
account, but it failed verification on the photo part. I gave up 
because it was still optional -- then.
On 2023-12-28 I got a letter 4869C saying that the old account could 
no longer be used, and I would _have_ to create an ID.me account, but 
the letter also said that service would not be available till 2024-
01-08 because of weeks-long system maintenance. That made the timing 
pretty tight for getting my final 2023 estimated tax payment in. But 
fortunately whatever had glitched last year was fixed. (And the 
system had saved the information I'd already entered, so I could just 
edit rather than starting from scratch.) 
The process took me under an hour, using my web browser _and_ a 
smartphone with photo and video capability. An option exists for live 
help from a person, but I suspect the wait time would be long.
And after I'd gone through that, the _only_ service that was working 
was making an online payment. It was not possible to see the status 
of my account, look at past tax returns, etc. There were menu links 
for a bunch of things, but every one said the service wasn't 
available.
This is what happens when the Republicans in Congress get their way 
and starve the IRS of funds. The CBO found that giving the IRS more 
money would reduce the deficit because tax collection would be more 
efficient and more tax cheats would be caught. But the Republican 
Party doesn't want more tax cheats to be caught, and we can all guess 
why.
-- 
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA         
https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...