IRS PIN Retrieval – Online

The IRS IP PIN, known as the Identity Protection PIN, is an extra security measure. It prevents anyone else from filing a federal income tax return using your Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Without IP PIN, even you won’t be able to file a federal income tax return using your own taxpayer identification number. However, this depends on the filing method – more on that below.

Not everyone has an IP PIN. Only those that requested one and were issued by the IRS have it. If you haven’t received an IP PIN, you don’t need one to file your federal income tax return. 

How to retrieve your IP PIN online?

Whether you’ve received an IP PIN and lost it or got it for the first time, the way to obtain it is the same. The IRS has an IP PIN retrieval tool you can use by logging in with your IRS account. However, you’ll be asked to pass what the IRS calls a rigorous identity verification process. Once verifying your identity, you can then get your IP PIN.

After obtaining your IP PIN online, your spouse and dependents will also be eligible for it once they pass the identity verification process. 

Get your IP PIN online from here

IP PIN from CP01A notice

The Internal Revenue Service mails CP01A notices to taxpayers, including the IP PIN. If you received this notice in the mail, you don’t need to get an IP PIN online, as the one you’ll get from the online tool is the same as what you received in the notice.

Note that you can’t use the IP PIN you received the last year. The CP01A notice is a recurring document that taxpayers receive every calendar year. You can’t use the same IP PIN for the following year.

Get an IP PIN with Form 15227

Form 15227, Application for an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN), is the only tax form to obtain an IP PIN. Since there is an online tool to get an IP PIN, you can’t submit Form 15227 electronically. You must file a paper copy and mail or FAX it to the Internal Revenue Service.

Get Form 15227 with instructions

There are four requirements to get an IP PIN through Form 15227. These are as follows.

• You didn’t receive an IP PIN for the current calendar year.
• Your adjusted gross income is less than $72,000.
  • This figure is subject to change every year and is usually the same as the free file income requirement for that tax year.
• You have a taxpayer identification number – only Social Security Number and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number are accepted.
• You have a telephone number.