What Is an IRS IP PIN and How Does It Protect You?

An IRS IP PIN is a six-digit Identity Protection Personal Identification Number the IRS assigns to individual taxpayers to block anyone else from filing a federal return under their Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. The code changes every year, and the IRS won’t accept a return without the correct one. Any taxpayer who can verify their identity can now request one voluntarily; you no longer have to be a confirmed identity theft victim to enroll.¹

How the Code Works on Your Return

The IP PIN sits on top of your Social Security number as a second check. When your return reaches IRS systems, the computers look for the correct six digits before releasing the return into processing. An e-filed return with a missing or wrong IP PIN is rejected on the spot, and you have to resubmit with the right code. A paper return with the wrong code isn’t rejected outright, but the IRS holds it for manual identity review, and your refund waits.²

The code applies only to federal individual income tax forms: Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, 1040-PR, and 1040-SS. You do not enter it on extension requests like Form 4868, on employment or gift tax returns, or on state returns.²

Who Can Get One

Anyone with a Social Security number or ITIN who can verify their identity is eligible. You can sign up as a purely preventive measure, even if you aren’t required to file that year.¹ Confirmed victims of tax-related identity theft are enrolled automatically by the IRS and receive a code without asking for one.² Parents and legal guardians can also request an IP PIN for a dependent.

Three Ways to Enroll

The IRS offers three enrollment paths. The right one depends on whether you can pass identity verification online and, for the paper route, whether your income falls under a specific limit.

Through Your IRS Online Account

The fastest route is your IRS online account. After you sign in and verify your identity, the IP PIN appears in the IP PIN section of your profile page.¹ If you don’t have an account yet, you’ll create one and complete identity verification through the site.³

Online enrollment gives you two choices: ongoing enrollment, which renews automatically each year, or one-time enrollment for the current calendar year only, which opts you out at year’s end.²

Form 15227 by Mail

If online verification isn’t working for you, submit Form 15227. This option is only available if the adjusted gross income on your most recently filed return was below $84,000, or $168,000 for married filing jointly.² After the IRS receives the form, an agent calls you to verify your identity by phone, and the PIN arrives by mail within four to six weeks.⁴

In Person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center

If online verification isn’t an option and your income is over the Form 15227 threshold, schedule an appointment at a local Taxpayer Assistance Center. Bring one government-issued photo ID and one additional form of identification.¹ The IP PIN typically arrives by mail within about three weeks after your visit.⁴

Filing Your Return With an IP PIN

If you e-file, your tax software will prompt you for the six digits before transmitting. If you file on paper, write the code in the boxes labeled “Identity Protection PIN” in the signature area of Form 1040.²

Using a preparer? Give them your IP PIN so they can enter it. The IRS says the only parties who should ever see the code are the IRS itself and your trusted tax preparation provider.⁵

Joint Returns and Dependents

On a joint return, each spouse who has an IP PIN must include it. If only one spouse is enrolled, only that spouse’s code is needed. The return will be rejected if either enrolled spouse’s code is missing or wrong.²

Dependents matter too. If you e-file and claim a dependent who has an IP PIN, enter their code on the return. The IRS requires it on Form 1040 and on related forms such as Form 2441 for child and dependent care expenses and the Earned Income Credit schedule. If someone else can claim you as a dependent and you have an IP PIN, share it with them for their e-filed return. Paper filers don’t have to enter a dependent’s IP PIN.²

Retrieving a Lost IP PIN

A new IP PIN is generated for every enrolled taxpayer each year. If you were auto-enrolled after identity theft, the IRS mails your new code on a CP01A notice from mid-December through early January.⁶ If you enrolled voluntarily, the new code appears in your online account each January.

Lost the notice or can’t remember the digits? Sign in to your IRS online account and open the IP PIN section of your profile; the current year’s code is displayed there.³ If you can’t get in online, call the IRS at 800-908-4490 (or 267-941-1000 from outside the U.S.) and ask them to mail a copy. Don’t apply for a new IP PIN in this situation; you’re retrieving the one already assigned to you.⁴

One timing quirk catches people out. The online IP PIN tool goes down for annual maintenance in late November and comes back in early January, when new codes are generated for the coming filing season. If you need your current-year code during that window, call instead.

Opting Out

If you enrolled voluntarily and are not a confirmed victim of tax-related identity theft, you can leave the program. Sign in to your IRS online account and use the opt-out control in the IP PIN section, or call 800-908-4490 if you can’t get in online. Allow up to 72 hours after opting out before you e-file without a code or re-enroll. Taxpayers who chose one-time enrollment are opted out automatically at year-end without doing anything.²

Identity theft victims who were auto-enrolled by the IRS cannot opt out. The program is mandatory for them, and a new code arrives each year.

Protecting the Code From Scammers

Because the IP PIN locks your tax account, scammers want it. The IRS is direct: phone calls, emails, or texts asking for your IP PIN are scams.¹ The IRS delivers the code only through your online account or by mailing a CP01A notice to the address on file. No legitimate IRS employee will call you to ask for it. Share the number only with the IRS itself and your tax preparer.⁵

If Someone Already Filed a Return in Your Name

Your next step depends on who noticed first. If the IRS sent you a Taxpayer Protection Program letter, follow the instructions in it to verify your identity online or by phone and confirm you did not file the return in question. The IRS will remove the fraudulent one from your records. Do not file Form 14039, the Identity Theft Affidavit, if you’ve received a Taxpayer Protection Program letter.⁷

If you discovered the fraud on your own, file a paper return with a completed Form 14039 attached to the back, and mail both to the IRS office for your state. Don’t send duplicate copies of Form 14039 or call to check status; either action slows things down. Once the IRS resolves your case, it enrolls you in the IP PIN program automatically. A new six-digit code will arrive each year, and every future return you file will need it.⁷

1
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Identity Protection PIN
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Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions About the Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN)
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Internal Revenue Service. Retrieve Your IP PIN
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Taxpayer Advocate Service. Protect Yourself From Tax-Related Identity Theft: Get an Identity Protection PIN
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Online Account and Identity Protection PINs Protect Against Identity Thieves and Scammers
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Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP01A Notice
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Identity Theft Victim Assistance: How It Works