The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that the Electronic Filing Personal Identity Numbers (e-filing PIN) tool is no longer available on IRS.gov or by toll-free phone. The reason for the change in policy? “Additional questionable activity,” according to the agency.
The e-File PIN is used to help taxpayers protect their accounts when filing their tax returns electronically (typically, forms 1040, 1040EZ, 1040A). Links for e-File PIN are embedded in almost all commercial tax software products. The IRS intended to eliminate the use of the e-File PIN completely, but it appears that cybercriminals may have forced their hand.
In February of this year, the IRS was able to stop an attack on the e-filing PIN tool. The attacks were initiated using out-of-wallet information from a third party tied to stolen Social Security Numbers (SSNs).
Recently, the IRS again observed automated attacks taking place at an increasing frequency but says that only affecting a small number of e-File PINs. The IRS notes it was able to identify this issue because of additional defenses put in place earlier this year; backend protections remain in place. However, as a result of the most recent attacks, the IRS decided to remove the e-File PIN program as a safety measure.
The change only affects those taxpayers who have not filed their tax returns this year and need a replacement e-File PIN.
To be clear, most taxpayers do not need an e-File PIN to file electronically since they can use their prior-year adjusted gross income from copies of their prior year tax returns. Taxpayers who do not have a copy of their prior year tax return may use the recently rebooted Get Transcript tool to obtain a copy.
Note that you shouldn’t confuse the IP PIN with the 5 digit PIN you use to e-file your returns: those PINS aren’t interchangeable and are not affected by this announcement.
