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...