After backtracking on facial recognition being required to create an online account to pay your taxes, the IRS has this week made it possible to avoid sharing your biometric data during the account sign up process.
The IRS makes it clear that taxpayers still have the option to verify their identity automatically using biometric verification through ID.me, but it’s no longer mandatory. Instead, it’s possible to partake in a “live, virtual interview with agents.” As it’s just a live chat, no biometric data is collected or asked for.
If you decide to use the ID.me self-assistance tool instead, the IRS has improved the system. New requirements are in place that “ensure images provided by taxpayers are deleted for the account being created.” If an IRS Online Account has already been created, the IRS is permanently deleting any biometric data collected during that process. However, it may take a few weeks to delete it all.
The IRS admits this is a short-term solution to authentication and plans to replace it with a Login.Gov authentication tool in the near future. It’s unclear when this new system will be ready to roll out and cope with demand, but the IRS states it definitely won’t be used before the 2022 filing deadline.
