Yesterday I got a letter from the IRS, a form CP5071. It said I had to verify my identity with them for them to continue processing my tax return. It wasn't too detailed about why, but from reading online it may be a random check to prevent fraud. There wasn't anything of note different in my return this year, so random seems likely. The form suggested to go online to an irs.gov page using an id.me login. I thought I had made one in the past to do Free Fillable Forms, but I guess that's a separate login. I looked at creating an id.me one, but:
- My dad and some others had had trouble creating one, needing a scan of an ID and various issues that took a while to get right.
- It required agreeing to terms that including broad indemnification and no notice for changes.
- The id.me domain, though linked from irs.gov, isn't a .gov domain and is registered through GoDaddy with whois privacy, a bit weird for an official government site (that isn't Montenegro).
I didn't really want to do that if I didn't have to. On the back of the form, it mentioned being able to call a phone number. Reading some discussions online led me to feel that might be better, though it could take some waiting. So I called.
After a long hold, a lady answered. Early on she wanted to know if I tried the website first. I said "sort of". She pressed for details, so, not wanting to go into the above points, I simply said that I thought the phone way would be easier. So she went on. She asked for my SS number, name, and address, among other identifying info. She made sure I had two years of tax forms with me (the year in question and the prior year), then put me on hold to key in some info. After, she asked me for several field values from the two forms. She then said I was verified.
Overall it took about 38 minutes. Not terrible I guess. So now they will proceed with processing my return and it will take 2 to 9 weeks. She gave a number to call if I don't get anything in that period, though I may forget by that time. Hopefully it all works out fine.
I can get a bit anxious when talking on the phone in unusual circumstances, worrying about what could go bad, especially when waiting. Though I've gotten better with it, I still had some trouble. I was glad when it was finished. It took some energy though.