Bev, thank you!This page says that you can't use the app unless you have a US telephone number.
Identity and Tax Return Verification Service | Internal Revenue Service
Use the identity verification (ID Verify) service if you received an IRS 5071C letter, 5747C letter or 5447C letter.www.irs.gov
But there is a phone number you can call if you don't have the i.d. information they require.
Can you setup a google voice account in the US, maybe with the help of a friend there, who could provide her US cell number temporarily (the cell number could then be removed from the google account)? Or have someone in the US get a temp ($10) SIM card, plug it in their cell, for a temp cell number, to register the goole voice with it?...you need either a US telephone number...
Same as it ever was (to quote the Talking Heads) I'm afraid. When e-filing first came available you couldn't efile from outside the US (for a variety of reasons) and it took years for that to change. And then you could only efile if you paid an outside tax prep provider (software or real person). Free file only started a few years after that, but since the beginning there are very few of the Free file vendors that will handle "overseas taxpayers" filings (and only with multiple restrictions on age, income and probably phase of the moon).As a general observation, even if it worked, the US government is basically forcing you to give all this detailed personal information to an outside provider about whom you know absolutely nothing.
I am currently struggling with it due to the anomalies. I used my French phone to receive a 6-digit code to allow me to set up the account and then it accepted my French address as well so all the supporting documents will match the address for verification. However, the next step to complete verification will not accept a phone number or address outside the US. I currently have a support call into them to get around this - they offer a video call to complete the verification but I can't get this to work as their specifications for supporting documents are impossible to meet - e.g utility bill less than 90 days old; mine got rejected because it isn't in English!Has anyone been able to use this without having a US telephone number? If so, please tell me how you did it
If you've taken French nationality to be able to renounce, you're still entitled to most (if not all) the tax treaty benefits - being a citizen of and resident of one of the treaty countries.$2,350 but then you have to settle up with Uncle and I think trying to figure out who owes who how much would make my head explode. Then, there's the matter of the US/France tax treaty that one would no longer have the benefit of...hmmm.
After all that here is the response:I am currently struggling with it due to the anomalies. I used my French phone to receive a 6-digit code to allow me to set up the account and then it accepted my French address as well so all the supporting documents will match the address for verification. However, the next step to complete verification will not accept a phone number or address outside the US. I currently have a support call into them to get around this - they offer a video call to complete the verification but I can't get this to work as their specifications for supporting documents are impossible to meet - e.g utility bill less than 90 days old; mine got rejected because it isn't in English!
America can be amazingly parochial at times, I'll let you know how it goes if they answer my support ticket.
You were very lucky, the final screen for completing verification insists on a US address and US phone number and you cannot get past this point without it. As you can see from the response I got from them, they won't process overseas identity verification.I just completed this process yesterday. I live in Japan but am on this site because we are planning a move to France next year - I think all these IRS issues are the same wherever you go. In any event, I don't have either a US address or a US phone number, but I was able to complete the process online. For verification, I provided my passport, my SS card (had to get the original out of my safe deposit), a Fidelity account statement that showed my address in Japan (I guess I was lucky to have this), and the dreadful "selfie". I did not have any bank statements or other docs showing my full SS number, as most now show only the final four digits, but that was not a problem. It took a couple of days of back and forth sending them documents until they were happy, but then the video interview with the ID.me person was very quick - I just had to answer a few questions and show my original passport and Social Security card (back and front). It originally went down this rabbit hole because even my accountants were unable to efile my US return. The IRS conducted some sort of identify fraud investigation with respect to one of my returns a few years ago (resolved after I sent them a bunch of documents) and now they think I must have been assigned a PIN. Because they think I have one, the PIN is required to efile. I never actually received a PIN, so I have been trying to sort this out by getting the pin - to do that required an account, which now requires the ID.me verification. Now that I have that, I tried again this morning to request a pin, but that IRS site is down until January 22, so I'm just hoping I'll remember to follow up and get this sorted out before next year's filing deadline. I just sent this year's return by post and it cost me about $50 for registered. I know everyone complains about the French bureaucracy, but after dealing with the Japanese version for twenty years as well as the special hell US institutions create for us expat citizens, I keep thinking "how much worse could it possibly be?"
Use this service only if you have a:
- You received a 5071C letter, 5747C letter, 6331C letter, or 5447C letter and your financial and phone information is U.S. based, or;
- An IRS representative directed you to use it
Correct, I spoke to an IRS rep yesterday and he told me that it is practically impossible for a non-US resident to gain online access to their records or other service. The security ID process demands US phone and street addresses. They can't set it up for you either so there's no point in askingFrom the page that I cited above about this service, it sounds as if you can only sign up for it if you received one of those form letters.
It certainly doesn't sound like it's something open and available to all.
Maybe I am missing something in this thread, but what about a virtual mailbox service (w/US address), and a US configured google voice account?Correct, I spoke to an IRS rep yesterday and he told me that it is practically impossible for a non-US resident to gain online access to their records or other service. The security ID process demands US phone and street addresses. They can't set it up for you either so there's no point in asking
One document they asked for is a current electricity bill to confirm the address, had to be less than 90 days old.Maybe I am missing something in this thread, but what about a virtual mailbox service (w/US address), and a US configured google voice account?
Given that they are supposed to be confirming your identity and other "vitals" they are going to insist on an address and phone number that can be confirmed against an identity document of some variety. I gather this whole id.me system has something to do with identity theft concerns or issues. It's one of the big "gotchas" with the US's system of using the SSN as a tax identification number as they do.Maybe I am missing something in this thread, but what about a virtual mailbox service (w/US address), and a US configured google voice account?
The only identity documents with an address that they will accept are a valid driver's license or national ID card - and they will not accept documents that are not in English. You do have to upload an image of a passport but that does not have an address on it.Given that they are supposed to be confirming your identity and other "vitals" they are going to insist on an address and phone number that can be confirmed against an identity document of some variety. I gather this whole id.me system has something to do with identity theft concerns or issues. It's one of the big "gotchas" with the US's system of using the SSN as a tax identification number as they do.
Have you received one of those letters that they mention in the instructions? (Which would mean, I guess, that someone has attempted to use your SSN for tax purposes.)They have specifically told me that non-US residents cannot use this service and so has the IRS.
We're screwed!
I received one much earlier this year as there was a query on my address since moving to France. After a very long conversation I was told to get back to the IRS if I heard nothing from them by December, hence the current round of frustration trying to contact them. Incidentally they told me way back when not to file an amended return as it would slow things down; during the last conversation they asked me why I hadn't filed an amended return and basically they said the first person had misinformed me! So I filed one yesterday.Have you received one of those letters that they mention in the instructions? (Which would mean, I guess, that someone has attempted to use your SSN for tax purposes.)
Can you setup a google voice account in the US, maybe with the help of a friend there, who could provide her US cell number temporarily (the cell number could then be removed from the google account)? Or have someone in the US get a temp ($10) SIM card, plug it in their cell, for a temp cell number, to register the goole voice with it?
Thank you; I am trying to sort it out with them now. If you are like me, you will find the french government a refreshing exercise in efficiency.(most of the time)I just completed this process yesterday. I live in Japan but am on this site because we are planning a move to France next year - I think all these IRS issues are the same wherever you go. In any event, I don't have either a US address or a US phone number, but I was able to complete the process online. For verification, I provided my passport, my SS card (had to get the original out of my safe deposit), a Fidelity account statement that showed my address in Japan (I guess I was lucky to have this), and the dreadful "selfie". I did not have any bank statements or other docs showing my full SS number, as most now show only the final four digits, but that was not a problem. It took a couple of days of back and forth sending them documents until they were happy, but then the video interview with the ID.me person was very quick - I just had to answer a few questions and show my original passport and Social Security card (back and front). It originally went down this rabbit hole because even my accountants were unable to efile my US return. The IRS conducted some sort of identify fraud investigation with respect to one of my returns a few years ago (resolved after I sent them a bunch of documents) and now they think I must have been assigned a PIN. Because they think I have one, the PIN is required to efile. I never actually received a PIN, so I have been trying to sort this out by getting the pin - to do that required an account, which now requires the ID.me verification. Now that I have that, I tried again this morning to request a pin, but that IRS site is down until January 22, so I'm just hoping I'll remember to follow up and get this sorted out before next year's filing deadline. I just sent this year's return by post and it cost me about $50 for registered. I know everyone complains about the French bureaucracy, but after dealing with the Japanese version for twenty years as well as the special hell US institutions create for us expat citizens, I keep thinking "how much worse could it possibly be?"
