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I always think the biggest issue to solve, if the IRS were to send you a pre-filled form with all of your information, would be making sure that the correct per

I always think the biggest issue to solve, if the IRS were to send you a pre-filled form with all of your information, would be making sure that the correct person receives the form. I don't think a majority of people have online IRS accounts, and older or technology challenged people might be reluctant to have it. So that means that the US Postal Service needs to be completely sure that they send this envelope of sensitive information to the correct person. It seems like the information could end up with the wrong person with mailing mistakes or people who have moved.

SoftTalker 3y ago
Well we receive all kinds of other tax information in the mail, W2s, 1099s, etc. It doesn't seem to cause big problems.
- venusenvy47 3y ago
  It seems like having all the information bundled nicely with your SSN would be a valuable target for someone walking past an old person's mailbox. As it stands now, we only put our SSN on the filing that we are sending to the IRS.
mjevans 3y ago
They only need to use https://www.login.gov/help/verify-your-identity/how-to-verify-your-identity/ https://www.login.gov/help/verify-your-identity/how-to-verif... As well as track and list the IP / location and time of when previous accesses occurred. Sign in and see someone not on the list? Have a link that sends to identity fraud at the FBI or whatever's the correct place. They could also hide the exact details and just name the banks / holdings places and other things involved and you could confirm that there aren't any other details or make corrections.
- venusenvy47 3y ago
  I'm a little confused about this site. I recently had my mother get access to her IRS information using something called ID.me, which is what the IRS site directs you to. To sign up she needed to have a video conference on her phone with an agent that verified that she was a real person showing her driver's license. Is login.gov an alternate method to ID.me?
  - mjevans 3y ago
    End (key) > Learn > About Us https://www.login.gov/about-us/ https://www.login.gov/about-us/ """ Login.gov was a General Services Administration 18F innovation project in partnership with the United States Digital Services (USDS). This shared-service, made possible through a Trusted Identities Group (National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace) grant, is a result of cross-agency collaboration that sought to develop secure, user-friendly ways for the public to access government websites. """ Though visiting a local police department or staffed USPS office might also be valid initial authentication methods.
shadowgovt 3y ago
There was a time we solved that problem by... Not having taxes be considered sensitive information. At the inception of the federal tax, the federal government didn't have enough agents to enforce it. So they actually made the filings public so that people could police each other... You'd be able to see your neighbor claiming poverty when you knew they owned twenty acres and sic the fuzz on them. Something to be said for not letting people do their finances in the dark...
- kalleboo 3y ago
  Tax filings are still public under "freedom of information" type laws in several countries, like Sweden.
notfed 3y ago
This should be easy to solve: don't send it automatically. Require people to: manually log into a website or visit an office, verify their identity, and confirm their address.
xnx 3y ago
Does the information need to be private? Isn't income public in some countries. ? Public information could be a good defense against tax cheats.

SoftTalker 3y ago

Well we receive all kinds of other tax information in the mail, W2s, 1099s, etc. It doesn't seem to cause big problems.

venusenvy47 3y ago
It seems like having all the information bundled nicely with your SSN would be a valuable target for someone walking past an old person's mailbox. As it stands now, we only put our SSN on the filing that we are sending to the IRS.

mjevans 3y ago

They only need to use https://www.login.gov/help/verify-your-identity/how-to-verify-your-identity/ https://www.login.gov/help/verify-your-identity/how-to-verif... As well as track and list the IP / location and time of when previous accesses occurred. Sign in and see someone not on the list? Have a link that sends to identity fraud at the FBI or whatever's the correct place. They could also hide the exact details and just name the banks / holdings places and other things involved and you could confirm that there aren't any other details or make corrections.

venusenvy47 3y ago
I'm a little confused about this site. I recently had my mother get access to her IRS information using something called ID.me, which is what the IRS site directs you to. To sign up she needed to have a video conference on her phone with an agent that verified that she was a real person showing her driver's license. Is login.gov an alternate method to ID.me?
- mjevans 3y ago
  End (key) > Learn > About Us https://www.login.gov/about-us/ https://www.login.gov/about-us/ """ Login.gov was a General Services Administration 18F innovation project in partnership with the United States Digital Services (USDS). This shared-service, made possible through a Trusted Identities Group (National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace) grant, is a result of cross-agency collaboration that sought to develop secure, user-friendly ways for the public to access government websites. """ Though visiting a local police department or staffed USPS office might also be valid initial authentication methods.

shadowgovt 3y ago

There was a time we solved that problem by... Not having taxes be considered sensitive information. At the inception of the federal tax, the federal government didn't have enough agents to enforce it. So they actually made the filings public so that people could police each other... You'd be able to see your neighbor claiming poverty when you knew they owned twenty acres and sic the fuzz on them. Something to be said for not letting people do their finances in the dark...

kalleboo 3y ago
Tax filings are still public under "freedom of information" type laws in several countries, like Sweden.

notfed 3y ago

This should be easy to solve: don't send it automatically. Require people to: manually log into a website or visit an office, verify their identity, and confirm their address.

xnx 3y ago

Does the information need to be private? Isn't income public in some countries. ? Public information could be a good defense against tax cheats.