Pilot Program to Thwart Identity Theft Expanded

Identity theft of an individual’s personal information can enable a thief to erroneously obtain a taxpayer’s refund and cause delays in the processing of a legitimate tax return. Several years ago, the IRS started a pilot program permitting taxpayers in Florida and Georgia, as well as the District of Columbia—locations with the highest incidents of tax identity theft—to obtain an identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN). Now, this programhas been expanded to California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, and Rhode Island. Eventually, this program will be expanded to all states.

Even if you are not in any of these areas, you can obtain an IP PIN if:

• The IRS sent you a CP01A Notice (https://www.irs.gov/pub/notices/cp01a_english.pdf), which assigns you an IP PIN because you previously were a victim of identity theft, you notified the IRS of potential identity theft, or you asked for an IP PIN.
• You received an IRS letter inviting you to “opt in” to get an IP PIN.