Less than a month out from Tax Day, the IRS is preparing to implement a government-operated identity verification system: Login.gov. Taxpayers will be able to use the single sign-on tool to access tax documents and make payments through IRS.gov as soon as next week, FCW and Nextgov have learned. whataburgersurveyuThe news comes one year after the IRS faced outcry over requirements for taxpayers to verify their identities using facial recognition technology from vendor ID.me to access online IRS accounts and one week after an internal audit showed Login officials had paused efforts to implement similar technologies—and misled agencies about those plans. wingstopcomsurveyAs the 2022 tax season wound down, the IRS pledged to work with the General Services Administration, which operates Login.gov, to add the service as an option for users. The tax agency cited the need for higher security standards and scale for Login.gov. wwwarbyscomsurveyThat time has come, according to multiple sources, with Login on track to be integrated as an identity proofing and authentication option for IRS.gov accounts next week. Already, two IRS applications that don’t require identity proofing offer Login.gov as an option. wwwarbyscomsurveyuOnce fully integrated, taxpayers will be able to log in to IRS.gov using their Login.gov credentials, which are in use at a host of other federal websites, including benefits sites run by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration. wwwhomdepotcomsurveyBut stakeholders on every side of this have expressed concerns about whether Login can meet the needs of the IRS—especially on Tax Day, the heaviest traffic day of the year—and what it will mean for the program. wwwjacklistenscom“Reputation is my main concern,” one TTS staffer said in a June 2022 internal Slack message seen by reporters. “For example, IRS can weather this but for Login.gov it could make or break us.” wwwjcpenneycomsurveyThat reputation will be more important than ever as the White House considers a massive push for the service as part of a long-awaited executive order meant to address identity fraud in government benefit programs, although the order is not yet finalized. wwwlowescomsurveyThe initial prototype for Login.gov was built by the U.S. Digital Service—the White House’s tech unit—and 18F—the digital consultancy housed within GSA—with the goal of providing a single sign-on service that would someday be used across government. wwwlowescomsurveyThe service launched in 2017 and was built up over time, adding vendor support for various services, including data broker LexisNexis, which provides fraud detection and identity verification for the service. wwwpublixsurveycomIn 2021, Login.gov received a nearly $187 million investment from GSA’s revolving tech fund, the Technology Modernization Fund, to help it scale to more agencies. wwwtellaldiusAnd a partnership with the IRS would help those efforts, as it will introduce Login to a much larger pool of users. zaxbyslistens“There will be a one-time big hit—a tsunami of identity proofing that will happen at the front—that’s going to be the big test,” said Dominic Sale, who from September 2019 to February 2021 served as assistant commissioner of GSA Solutions, the group under TTS responsible for managing Login.gov, among other services. zaxbyslistens“Once those accounts are proofed, though, the beauty is they won’t have to reproof them every time they log in” to other government websites, Sale told FCW and Nextgov. “Will someone like IRS have to absorb some of that upfront? Possibly. I just hope to hell they’re prepared to do it.” zaxbyslistensBut the service has struggled to meet identity proofing standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, leaving some agencies hesitant to use the service, including the IRS.
