If I entered my drivers license info before filing, why is the IRS wanting to verify my identity?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
April 30, 2023
2 replies
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I am 99.9% sure I put in my and my husband's drivers license info before e-filing our taxes for 2022 on April 14, 2023. I thought that was supposed to assure the IRS that it was me filing my taxes. Today, I received a LTR 5071C letting me know someone had filed a tax return using my name and my social security number and that if it was me who filed the return, I needed to verify my identity. After spending an hour, including a video call, getting my identity verified with ID.me, I went to the IRS website and spent 2 minutes putting in the information they wanted in order to verify it was I who filed the tax return under my name and social security number.

I thought the step of putting in your drivers license before e-filing (TurboTax desktop version) was supposed to avoid having to verify identity after the return is e-filed. Maybe I didn't load our drivers license info this year? How can I find out whether I did or not?

TurboTax Home & Biz Windows

Best answer by fanfare

Only the IRS can explain why they required you to verify your identity---it seems that the letter they sent to you said they had another return using the same SSN so they had to check into it. Entering your DL to e-file would not have prevented that.

driver's license is used by your resident State, not the IRS.

It helps, but it is not necessarily sufficient.

@GabbyKitty

xmasbaby0

Employee

Sorry---entering your drivers license did not help you avoid an IRS request to verify your identity.

Sometimes the IRS chooses returns randomly to request verification of identity and sometimes there is something on the return that triggers the request. No matter why the IRS has required you to verify your identity, you need to follow their instructions in order to receive your refund. If you do not verify your identity you will not get your refund.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/security/tips-for-handling-identity-verification-requests-from-the-irs/L55RhaS2B

https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/identity-verification-for-irs-letter-recipients

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**