An IRS Identity Protection PIN is a free six-digit code that must be on any federal return filed with your Social Security number. A thief who has your number can’t file first and claim a refund in your name. Request one on the IRS’s Get an IP PIN page, then use the new PIN it issues each year.
Without one, a thief’s return can go through first, and your own e-filed return is then rejected as a duplicate. The National Taxpayer Advocate reported in June 2026 that such identity theft cases took the IRS about 20 months to resolve.
With a PIN on file, any return under your number that lacks it is rejected if e-filed or held for verification if mailed.
In September 2026, Military Times reported a breach at the Pentagon’s personnel data center that exposed Social Security numbers. Anyone who can verify their identity can get a PIN, even without a return to file. It protects your tax account, not your credit, so freeze your credit too.
Sign up before mid-November, when your IRS online account generally stops showing PINs until mid-January. There are three ways:
- Online is fastest, through the IRS’s Get an IP PIN page. Choose continuous enrollment, since one-time enrollment lapses on December 31.
- Form 15227 works if you can’t open an online account and your last return’s income is under its limit. The IRS calls to verify your identity, then mails the PIN, usually within four to six weeks.
- Otherwise, visit an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center by appointment with a government photo ID and one other ID. The PIN usually arrives by mail within three weeks.
The PIN changes every year. If you enrolled online, sign in each January for the new one, since the IRS won’t mail it. Then give it to your tax software or preparer, with the PIN of any spouse or dependent on the return who has one.
A lost PIN is on your online account’s profile page, except a child’s. Otherwise, call 800-908-4490 to verify your identity and have it mailed within 21 days. The IRS can’t mail one in the year you first enroll or during its year-end maintenance, normally November through mid-January.
For a return a thief has already filed in your name, submit Form 14039, the IRS’s Identity Theft Affidavit. Then, since your own e-filed return would be rejected as a duplicate, file it on paper and answer IRS letters quickly.
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