Locked out of E-filing? The secret PIN that changes everything

Ralph Estep
00:00:00

Let me ask you a question today. Are you tired of feeling vulnerable every time you sit down to handle your taxes? I mean, think about it like this. Picture yourself. You spent countless hours organizing receipts. You spent time tracking expenses and preparing everything perfectly to honor God with your finances. And then suddenly, you go to file your return and you're locked out of e-filing. All at once your heart races because you remember sister Jane from church who just last month, lost thousands to tax identity. You feel that familiar knot in your stomach.

You're wondering if your financial identity is at risk. What if someone files a fraudulent return in your name? What if your refund, that one you've been counting on for those urgent home repairs get stolen? Well today, I'm going to share a powerful secret that transformed my own filing experience and has protected hundreds of my clients. Because the truth is as entrepreneurs and Christians, we're called to be wise stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

So I'm going to show you how to protect your financial identity while maintaining that delicate balance between profitability and positive impact. And here's my promise for you. By the end of this episode, you'll have the knowledge and tools to safeguard your tax returns with the same diligence you apply to nurturing your spiritual wellbeing.

Stay with me today because this information could save you from countless sleepless nights and protect everything you've worked so hard to build. Let me answer today's question. It's how can you secure your e-filing future? That's the topic of today's show.

Podcast Announcer
00:01:29

In a world where crushing debt keeps you trapped, where living paycheck to paycheck has become your new normal, and where the dream of retirement seems impossibly out of reach, there's hope. Join financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr. A man who's walked through the fire of financial failure and emerged stronger on the other side.

Welcome to Ask Ralph, the show where real world experience meets biblical truth. To break the bondage of financial despair.

Get ready to take control of your money, break free from the financial stress and align your resources with God's purpose for your life. This is Ask Ralph with Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph Estep
00:02:10

Well, welcome to the show today.

And I bet after hearing that, you're probably thinking, Ralph, here's another doozy. But maybe you're one of those people that's feeling overwhelmed about tax security, or maybe you're trying to reconcile your faith with protecting your finances. Well, if that's you, you are in the right place because I'm going to talk today about a hidden danger and that's why traditional tax security just isn't enough anymore.

We used to just do our tax returns, put it in our envelope and send it off to the IRS. But listen, not many people use paper filing anymore. So we do rely on technology. And I did a show a week ago that talked about this tax identity theft. And today's my follow-up, because I want to really talk about what's at stake for working class people and small business owners.

And I want to talk about the emotional and spiritual costs of this tax identity theft. And listen, this all connects to our biblical mission here on this show of mastering our finances from a Christian perspective, because we want to protect our finances because that aligns with being a good steward.
And today I'm going to give you some practical ways to honor God through tax management and listen. It's so important. This protection, it's part of your spiritual journey. And I'm going to share with you the exact system I use. with my clients. A step-by-step protection plan that you can implement today so that you can escape the tax identity theft trap while staying true to your values.

Well, if you missed yesterday's show, I answered the question, Why don't I feel close to God anymore? I put a lot of stuff out there. And let me tell you, that was a transformative episode. So if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to go check it out because I talked all about how to rebuild your spiritual connection to God.
And if you got something out of it, I'd encourage you to share it with somebody else.

Well, I've got a great question for today that connects directly to what we're talking about. This is what the listener says.

"I'm at a loss. Last night, I spent six hours trying to e-file my taxes, only to be locked out of the system repeatedly. I'm a single mom of three, running a small home-based crafting business, and I've worked so hard to keep accurate records and honor God with my finances. But now, I'm terrified because I've been hearing about tax identity theft at my church small group, and two members recently had their identities stolen. I can't sleep at night worrying that someone might steal my information and destroy everything I've worked so hard to build. The thought of losing my tax refund, and listen, I've been counting on that to finally fix our leaky roof, makes my stomach churn. As a Christian, I know I need to trust God, but I feel so vulnerable and overwhelmed. I've prayed about this, but I also know God expects us to be wise stewards of our resources. I don't want to let my children down. I don't want to miss my filing deadline, but I don't know what to do.
Please, Ralph, I need your guidance on how to protect myself while fulfilling my obligations both to God and to the government. My church family recommended your show, saying you provide godly wisdom with practical solutions. Can you help me find peace in this situation?"

Well, first of all, I am humbled by your question and thank you so much for sending it to me. And that is my goal. My goal is to provide godly wisdom. I want to give you some practical solutions. And my heart goes out to you as a Christian. You're this Christian mother, you spent six hours struggling to e-file your tax return. I can only imagine how difficult that has to be. You're under a lot of stress.

I mean, I think about it myself. Running a small home-based business is stress enough. Now you're doing it as a single mom of three kids. And I know your time is valuable and your time is limited, but I also hear you're concerned about tax identity theft and I get it. I deal with this in my practice. Routinely a couple of times a year I see this. And you've got that anxiety about potentially losing your tax refund because I get it. You don't want to have a leaky roof. Nobody wants to lay in bed with water dripping down on their head. You're feeling vulnerable. You're feeling overwhelmed. You've got this fear of letting your children down. But what you're really talking about is this intersection of a financial challenge and your spiritual faith.

Well, here's the good news. I've got answers today. I've got practical solutions to what you're going through. And if you're just this listener, they didn't leave their name today, but that's cool. You can always send in a question without your name. I appreciate them. But if you're in this same situation, I'm going to encourage you. Go out to askralph.com
and do a search.

I've got a little search icon there on the website. And go there and start with your question. Maybe it's three o'clock in the morning. You're like the same person trying to e-file that returning link. What in the world could be going on here Ralph. I'm gonna encourage you to go to askralph.com.

I've got almost 700 episodes out there, got blog posts. I've got videos. I've got short videos and chances are I've addressed this.
Well, you know, one of the things I like to do when I do the show every day is I like to connect the question of the day with scripture. Now, this is going to be a common scripture that everybody's probably heard if you've gone to church at all, it talks about taxes, we go right to the book of Romans. And the book of Romans chapter 13, verses 6 and 7 speak directly to our responsibility as Christians regarding our taxes. And this is what it says. "This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor." I don't know about you, but I think that really sets the tone for what we're going to do today.

Well today, I'm grateful for this technology and security measures that can help protect our financial identities, and allow us to be better stewards of what God has entrusted to us. And that is the main focus of today's show. So let's get right to it.
Well, as I was preparing for the show today, I dug in and I wanted to get some statistics about IRS identity theft. And these might just startle you a little bit. These are some key identity theft statistics and this come from October 2024. Listen to this one. Over 294,000 identity theft complaints were filed with the IRS in 2021. 294,000. $5.2 billion that's with a B in tax fraud was prevented by the IRS in 2020. And here's the scary one.

Think about this one for a second. The average time to resolve identity theft cases is greater than 120 days. Which led the IRS to what I'm going to talk about today, this IP PIN program. I'm going to talk about that in a few minutes. So this was a program that was started as a pilot program back in 2011. And that, and just looking at this in the 2023 tax filing year, which was last year. Over 6.7 million IP PINs were issued. And this program, once it was pilot in 2011, 10 years later was expanded to all taxpayers. It used to be just limited to those having identity theft.

So this is one of the things I want to talk about in a few minutes about how you can get to this. Well, let's talk about the effectiveness and I was in so many IRS statistics. They say there is a 99% reduction in fraudulent returns for those who use IP PINS. Well, 99%... where do I sign up? And 89% of taxpayers report feeling more secure when they use this IP PIN. Because it blocks fraud automatically. What does it do?

You might ask that question. Well it stop duplicate tax return filings. You can't file your tax return unless you've got this pin number. It prevents unauthorized Social Security number use. It blocks and prevents fraud and refund claims, and it alerts the IRS to suspicious activity. So the IRS gets a tax return and it doesn't have that IP PIN, the bells and whistles are supposed to go off of the IRS.

Well, let's talk about how much money this has saved people. We talked about how much tax identity theft costs. Well, let's talk about how much it's saved. So in 2022, taxpayers saved an estimated $1.9 billion. Again, that's a B. Billion dollars. It also reduced IRS investigation time, it lowered their administrative costs, and it led to faster processing for legitimate returns. So you might be asking Ralph, I'm sold.

What are you talking about? What I'm talking about is what's called an IP PIN. Simple, make it very easy. It's Identity theft Protection Personal Identification Number. It's like when you go to an ATM machine. You put your card in. Next thing you know, it asks for a PIN number. Well, the IRS has developed this same system. Now in IRS's case, it's six unique digits and it's absolutely free.

Doesn't cost you a dime. But here's the deal. You can't file a tax return once you've signed up for this unless you've got that PIN number. And like I said, this started out as a pilot project back in 2011, but it is for everybody now. It used to be, if you were one of those victims of identity theft, the IRS would start sending you these orders.

I remember. Oh, but that's 20 years ago, back in my practice when we started seeing these, I wouldn't see those all the time. You know, if somebody had a tax identity theft, they would get this, a letter from the IRS. And unfortunately, the problem is a lot of, and I'll talk about this in a few minutes.

A lot of people thought it was like a one-time thing. It just hold on to this thing. It doesn't work that way. And we'll talk about that in a few minutes. You get to get a new one every year, but now it's available to all taxpayers and you're going to laugh when I say this is right from the IRS website, it's available to all taxpayers who can verify their identity. Well, duh. Well, you might be asking, Ralph, how do you get it?

Well, you go to irs.gov/IPPIN, and I'll put that in the show notes. Now there is a rigorous identity verification process. They take [00:12:00] you through, you know, what was your name? What is your date of birth? What is your address? And they look back at your tax records and you've got to confirm information like what was your adjusted gross income from your 2022 filing. That sort of thing.

Now you can also get this by mail. Not sure why you'd want to, because if you're still dealing with mail, you're probably not going to be filing online, but that's Form 15227. Now here's some things you need to know. This is the big security features of this. A lot of people are surprised by this. This PIN number changes every tax year automatically.
So once you sign up for this, this is valid for only one year and you're going to have to go get another one every year, and then you can use this for both electronic and paper file returns. And you can't share with anyone except your tax preparer. So if you're going to somebody to get your taxes done, don't pretend like you don't have one of these. A couple of times a year, sit down with clients.

I go over their tax return. I get everything ready. They sign their papers. I send their returns off for e-filing and wop. I get a kickback. You forgot to enter the IRS IP PIN number for this taxpayer. So I get on the phone, call the client. Hey, do you have an IP PIN number? Oh yeah, that's right. They did send me that letter. So if you've got one of those, you're going to get one every year. Keep track of it and share it with your tax preparer. Well, you might be asking Ralph, what are the benefits?

It's very simple. Think about it in these terms. Like we talked about with the ATM machine, you walk up to the ATM machine, you got the card. You put the card in, was it asking you for? A pin number. Why? Because anybody could take your card. But they've got to have that PIN number. Well the IRS IP PIN tax filing system works the exact same way. When you go to file your tax return, if you use somebody like me, we do your tax return, there's a spot in the electronic filing record where we enter this PIN number.

Then when we send the tax return in, they see your name, they see your social security number, they see your address, but then you've got that magic number. You've got that PIN number. So, what does it do? Well, it reduces tax related identity theft. It has to if you think about it because you can't file a return if you don't have that PIN number, so you basically lock people out of the system.

And the reason they did that year after year is because, and this is my personal opinion. I think we are going to get to a place where they're going to mandate that and you're going to have that PIN number. And here's the thing. A real big benefit of it, it does provide that peace of mind. Just like the listener was talking about today. You don't have to worry
is somebody going to get your identity and file a tax return in your name. And the IRS loves it. Because then they can identify who is sending in that tax return. It cuts down on fraud. It cuts down like I talked about a few minutes ago, it cuts down on the amount of investigative work.

I actually think it's increased the speed of refunds because once you've gotthat IP PIN number, there's no questioning that. I guess somebody could steal your information and steal your identity theft pin. I don't know what the statistics are, but with it being six digits, I think it'd be pretty hard to guess what that is. Now you might be asking, Ralph, well, what do I do if I lose that number? Great question because I've had clients that have lost it. If you do lose it, don't lose sleep.

All you gotta do is go to irs.gov. And if you haven't created an IRS online account, I'm going to encourage you to do that because you can go retrieve your pin number right there. This is something I think you should have. I think it makes a lot of sense to have an irs.gov online account. Now they're going to put you through ID.me which is a whole another discussion.

We'll be talking about that in a week or so. I had a client want to do that. And they were very upset with me because they said, did you read the fine print of this ID.me? Well, guess what? I'm going to do a show about that. So don't worry about that. Now, you can also contact the IRS for assistance if you can't locate your pin number. Here's the thing you need to understand. If you get in a position where they issued you that pin number and you can't find it, it is going to delay the processing of your tax return. Now a lot of people might say Ralph, but wait a second, I use tax software and it asks me to do this thing called a Self-select PIN.

Yes. I've been using those for years as well. This is something completely different. The IP PIN is more secure because it's something that's already matched to your information at the end point, that end point being the IRS. The Self Select PIN is something that you put in when you file your tax return.

And if you think about it, it's sort of the reverse logic of that. You put that pin number in, and then you push that information to the IRS. The IRS then has that five digit pin so that if somebody calls in and wants to talk about your tax record, they can say to you, Hey Mr. Jones, what is your five digit pin? But the problem with that is it doesn't require IRS verification.

They're just taking your number and they're letting you use it. But it doesn't have that same security that this IP PIN has. So I really believe that if you're going to take the time to do it, go to the IP PIN number. So I got some things that you need to consider. And this thing you need to understand because a lot of people don't get this. Once you're in, you're in. It's kind of like the Mafia, you know, that movie, The Godfather. And they tried to separate myself.

They pulled me back in. It's kind of a funny logic. But it's the truth. The IRS thing works the same way. Once you're into the system, you're going to have to wait each year to get that new pin number. Now here's the thing a lot of clients ask me, well, what if I file a joint with my spouse? Yes, that's right spouse.

I said, spouse. I sound like Mike Tyson for a second. Spouse. Your spouse has to obtain a separate IP number as well. So when you go to get your tax return done, guess what? You're going to have two letters or two numbers, and then it's required for all future federal tax returns. So that's what an IP PIN is.

I think I've sold you on the benefits of it. Well, let's get back to today's question because I want to give that listener three specific action steps that will help resolve their current situation because I've used, I said this at the beginning, I've used these exact same steps of many of my clients and they work. Number one thing. I think I've sold you on this. It's time to create that IRS online account.

Do it today. Don't do it tomorrow. Don't do it next week. Because I know your time is
precious. Just like this single mom who wrote to me today. But go get that IRS account. Yes. It's going to take you a few minutes. You're going to have to go through ID.me, but the benefit to that is once you've got that set up, you're golden.

And that's just like an account having to let the bank. Just like the IRS similar thing add that to your log-ins. You know, those people that keeps a password book, put it in your password book. Not that I recommend that. But keep track of it. Once you get that IRS account, then you can apply for this identity theft protection pin right from the IRS website. And I'm gonna encourage you to set this up.

I think it's one of those things, you know, a week or two ago, I talked about putting a freeze on your credit. I'll talk more about credit tomorrow. But I think this is one of those things. It's kind of a duh, no brainer. Go get this pin number. It's just going to protect you. Get it for your personal, get it for your business. And then store that pin number in two safe locations.

You say Ralph, why two? Because maybe you lose it. Put it in your home safe. Send it to your accountant. But keep track of that. That's my first thing. First immediate thing is create that protection system for yourself. Set up that IRS account so you can always go and check and see what's going on with my return. How come I haven't got my refund.

Is there an issue if you have that IRS account. I don't know how many times a day, clients will call on me, they say Ralph, I haven't gotten my refund yet. Or I got this letter from the IRS, I don't know what to do. First thing I say to them, do you have an irs.gov account? Well, no, I know you told me to set that up Ralph but I just don't have time. I said, but now guess what? If you had that set up, we could resolve this issue in about two
minutes. So now I'm going to encourage you to go take time and set up that account. So that's number one. Create that IRS account and get that IP PIN. Second piece of advice for the listener today. It's what I call the tax Tuesday.

I want you to set up a weekly routine. And all you got to do is set aside 15 minutes every Tuesday evening, maybe after the kids are in bed. And use this time to organize your receipts and track your business expenses. I know that sounds silly, but we're talking about taxes. Were talking about how to move beyond that feeling like you're overwhelmed and maybe you don't have a real robust system.

Maybe you're just an individual taxpayer. You don't have a business. Well set aside some time, once a week, keep track of those tax documents and think about it. If you make that small weekly commitment. One of the things I hear clients say all the time. Ralph, you know, I spent all weekend getting ready for my meeting with you.

I had to go find this and I had to go find this. And then I had to add up all of my medical expenses. And then I added up all my charitable contributions. And then I had to call my
daughter at college and ask her if she got her tuition statement. Oh, then I remembered that I took some money out of the IRA.

Well think about that. That's that six hour session like this, the person who wrote this listener question today. Because listen as Christians, we're called to be organized stewards of what God has provided. Don't wait till the last minute, don't shuffle with this, you know, dedicate that Tuesday to do that even 10, 15 minutes.

And trust me, it'll save you a lot of time. So that's second thing. Third thing. Build your
support network. You might be saying, Ralph what are you talking about? Well, if you're in the middle of the night, you're trying to file your tax return, and you're struggling, stop. Don't continue to beat your head against the wall. Contact somebody like myself and say to them, Hey, what's going on?

Do you have any idea what could be going on here? You know, maybe you want to connect with some other Christian folks and you can join our Tuesday night show. We do a live show every Tuesday night where you can bring your questions. You know, consider bringing in a trusted tax professional to help you establish the proper systems for your individual cybersecurity.

Maybe you've got a business. I'm happy to assist you. You go to askralph.com and schedule a call with me. And just remember this big takeaway here. You don't have to navigate these challenges alone. You know, a few weeks ago somebody said, you know, You're a financial evangelist. Well yeah, that's fine. Call me what you want. But I'm also a fellow Christian and I'm walking alongside you in this journey because trust me, this is what I do for a living. I see this day in and day out, and I'm here to help you protect what God has entrusted you with. And at the same time, remind you to focus on your spiritual growth as well.

Now as I noted a couple of weeks ago, Every time I do a podcast episode, which is every day we haven't figured out how we do it. Audio version, we do a video version it's on YouTube and Rumble and all the other places in between. I also write a blog article. And in that blog article, I put a lot of reference material. I go a little deeper. So I'm going to encourage you whenever you got a moment, go check out the blog articles.

Some people say Ralph, I love to hear your sparkling voice. I love to see your beautiful face. I appreciate that, but you can also go and check out the blog and that's at askralphpodcast.com/blog. You'll find a blog posting. You know what a blog is and I've got a written explanation of what I talked about today.

I've got resources in there. I referenced the things I talk about. So I'm going to encourage you to go check it out. Again go to askralphpodcast.com/blog. Well, let me talk to you for a minute about something I see every day in my accounting practice. You know that feeling when you're staring at tax forms and your stomach's in knots? Maybe you're not even getting to the point of filing.

You're just looking to do this form you're like, I hate this. My stomach's in knots. Maybe you're worried about missing deductions, or perhaps you've heard that new tax laws are coming out, but you're aren't sure how they affect you. I get it. That's exactly why I founded Saggio Management group. That's my accounting practice. As both an accountant business owner, I can tell you firsthand the tax season doesn't have to be a nightmare.
Because here's what keeps me up at night. And this is the truth. Last year, just last year,

I saw countless hardworking people and business owners who had overpaid their taxes by thousands of dollars. I mean, thousands of dollars. Simply because they didn't know about available deductions and credits. They just didn't know about it. They were literally leaving money on the table. So listen, whether you're running a small business or filing individual returns, tax laws change constantly.

I think we're going to see a lot of tax law changes this year. Just this year, we've seen major shifts that could impact your bottom line. And here's the thing. At Saggio Management, we don't just file your taxes. We help you build a strategic plan to legally minimize what you owe, because that's the truth. That's your goal.

You want to minimize what you owe like the Bible says, pay unto God what is due to God. Pay unto the authorities, what due to them. Pay on to Caesar what is due to Caesar, as they say. But you don't have to pay more than your fair share. So you might be asking Ralph, but what makes you different than anybody else? Well, here's what I, here's what I'm gonna say to that.

I'm not just a tax preparer. I'm your financial ally. I handle everything from individual business taxes. This is what I do every day to estate planning, succession strategy, and I don't disappear after tax season. The doors don't close. I don't move on to some other strip mall. I'm here year round to help you make smarter financial decisions. You might be saying Ralph, but wait a minute, dude.

I'm in California. It doesn't matter. Whether you're in California, maybe you're in Texas, you're in New York, I got clients all over the place. Anywhere in between, our virtual tax preparation services give you the same personalized attention as my local clients. With secure video conferencing, screen sharing, and our encrypted client portal, we handle everything seamlessly. It's just like if you're sitting right in front of me here in my office. So don't wait until you're stressed about deadlines or worried about an audit.

Let's make sure you never pay more than your fair share in taxes. And remember this. I'm not just saying this to you. I own this firm. And I stand personally behind every service I offer. Think about this for a second. Your peace of mind, your financial peace of mind is my business. So schedule today. Go to askralphpodcast.com/taxprep. And let me just tell you something. Some of my clients have saved enough on their taxes to pay for our service multiple times over.

That's not a promise.

That's just what smart planning can do.

We know, I like to end the show with some reflection questions, and I've got some zingers for you today. So let's start, let's jump right into it. Number one. Think about this. Reflect on this. If your tax identity was stolen tomorrow and your family's financial security was compromised, what systems do you wish you had in place today? I want you to consider both the practical impact on your home business like this listener today and the emotional toll on your role as a provider. So if your identity was stolen tomorrow, what do you wish you had in place? That's question number one. Question number two. What's the real cost of waiting to implement protection measures?

And I want you to think beyond just dollars. Consider your business reputation, your family's stability, your peace of mind trying to honor God through your finances. So ponder on that. Reflect on that. What's the real cost of waiting to implement protection measures?

Number three. When you think about financial protection as part of your overall stewardship, which I think you should, what steps have you been postponing
because you're worried, maybe you got a lack of knowledge or you're procrastinating? Hey, we all been guilty of that. So here's my challenge for, here's my reflection question. Write this one down. What's one action you could take in the next 24 hours to better protect your financial future?

Maybe it's going to get that irs.gov account. Maybe you've already got one. Go get that IP PIN number. Do something in the next 24 hours.

Well, let me talk about tomorrow's show. Are you tired of watching your hard earned money disappear because of a less than perfect credit score? Imagine putting an extra $437 back in your pocket every single month just by following God's principles for managing your finances. Well, join me tomorrow as I reveal how managing your credit like a pro isn't just about saving money. It's about being a faithful steward of every resource God has blessed you with. And I'm going to show you exactly how one working mother transformed her financial future while staying true to her Christian values. That's a show you don't want to miss.

Now as I close today, remember this. My passion is to help you achieve financial success. I want to see you live out your dreams, and I want to see you grow in your faith. And I know together, we can master your finances from a Christian perspective.

So as I always end this show, stay financially savvy out there, go get that irs.gov account and get that IP PIN, and may God bless you abundantly.

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