Reject--Missing IP PIN

[origun]

Client in question is a sister of one of my long-time local clients. We have not met personally, only been in touch by mail and through her local sister. The client has not filed taxes for years, has no income except SSI, has no credit cards or driver’s license. lives across the country from me and her sister and has received no stimulus payments. She recently moved from FL to the Northeast. I received appropriate information and a signed 8879 by mail so e-filed a 2020 tax return so that she could receive the stimulus payments but it was rejected as it did not include her IP PIN. She is disabled and has no idea what I’m talking about.

When checking online, I see no good options. She has no computer, has no credit cards or license for identification and is not able to navigate the system by herself either online or by phone. She has no transportation to get to an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center.

Is mailing in a 2020 return the only option? I realize it could be many months before the envelope is even opened? If a return is mailed in, are there copies of other documents that should be included to facilitate the process since there will be a missing IP PIN?

Does anyone have any ideas to help this helpless person? I don't have a POA (nor does her sister) so assume I couldn't call and get any specific help for her.

[Rapid Robert]

Does anyone have any ideas to help this helpless person?

No, not really. Given the facts as you state them, how do you even know this person is who they purport to be?

She is not suffering any immediate harm, just having to wait longer than expected for her Recovery Rebate Credit.

Do you think it possible that someone fraudulently obtained an IP PIN for her without her knowledge? I thought there was some identity verification involved with issuing an IP PIN. Or maybe she reported ID theft to IRS in prior years, that would do it. But if someone else had the IP PIN, wouldn't they use it to file a money-generating tax return?

[TaxGuyBill]

I realize it could be many months before the envelope is even opened?

The last I heard, they had all of their mail opened (but they still had a bunch of stuff in the 'system', mostly waiting for taxpayer's to respond to notices). So it shouldn't be TOO much of a delay on that end.

s far as whether or not the IRS needs to verify her identity once they open her tax return, and how long that process would be, I don't know. I have 'heard' the usual process to verify identity is quick, but with no credit card or driver's license, the process could possibly be more difficult.

[origun]

Thanks for replies. I guess all I can do is prepare a mail-in return for her and hope for the best. I don't know why she hasn't received stimulus payments as she receives SSI payments on a debit card but if not received by now, I understand the only way to receive them is to file a 2020 return. She hasn't filed a tax return in decades, I would guess, so don't know why she would have ever been given an IP PIN. I saw something online about FL being a testing ground for IP PINs back in 2015-16. I wonder if she has been receiving them automatically since then and just ignoring?! She left FL just a few months ago, don't know exact date. Interesting case and kind of sad when people needing help can't make their way through the bureaucratic maze.

[Rapid Robert]

There are a number of due diligence red flags here, good thing Form 8867 does not apply to RRC like it does to other refundable credits. How can she move from FL to the Northeast and yet not have any way whatsoever to travel to the nearest IRS TAC? How can she manage to understand, sign, and mail a Form 8879 back to you and yet have "no idea what I'm talking about" when you try to explain the IP PIN to her? How did she provide Sec 7216 consent to you to allow you to discuss her tax situation with her sister? How does she receive any medical care for her disability without a valid state ID (most if not all states offer a state ID card that is just like a driver's license except for permission to drive).

Like all people on "fixed incomes", she hasn't really suffered any adverse financial consequences due to COVID. "Interesting case and kind of sad when people needing help can't make their way through the bureaucratic maze." Somehow she made it through the SSI bureaucratic maze, didn't she? I dont' find this case sad at all (yes, I am expressing my own opinion, just as you did).

[Lion]

SS recipients were supposed to receive EIP1 and EIP2 the same way they receive their SS benefits. So, perhaps her EIPs were on that same debit card as her SS benefits.

[origun]

I can see nothing I can do except mail her a return, giving her the address to mail to IRS. I do have a signed statement mailed to me allowing me to talk to her sister but will mail directly to her. I believe that there was a daughter involved at one point which facilitated things for a while but there was a falling out between them. Dealing with domestic issues isn't my responsibility!

Incidentally, I have another local client who received one stimulus but not the other, I e-filed a return for them and they had the remaining stimulus deposited in their account yesterday...so there have been glitches and not all stimulus payments were sent to account where SS payments were sent.