The Most Taxing Issue Taxpayers May Ever Have To Face

It’s all the buzz – the proposal that the IRS may require every taxpayer to provide a “selfie” before they can file their taxes or access their online accounts. Some lawmakers are balking and rightly so. If it isn’t wild enough that we can be traced by our cellphones, our credit and debit card usage and our online activity, let’s now hand over our faces to who-knows-who. And, while it’s meant to protect taxpayers against hackers, do you really think the hackers won’t be delighted having actual photos that will make their efforts at gaining access to other personal information even easier? Oh, and according to Accounting Today.com it will actually be a third-party vendor that the IRS wants to allow to collect and manage this information.

According to the article, “Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Indiana, a senior member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, introduced the Save Taxpayers’ Privacy Act, which would prevent the IRS from requiring facial recognition technology to pay taxes or access account information.” https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/gop-lawmakers-move-to-stop-irs-facial-recognition-technology

Congresswoman Walorski states, “It is outrageous that the IRS is planning to force American taxpayers to submit to dangerous facial recognition software in order to fulfill their basic civic responsibility. Given the agency’s previous failures to safeguard Americans’ private data and prevent political weaponization within its ranks, emboldening the IRS with any additional sensitive data or personal information would be a disservice to taxpayers and an affront to their rights.”

I’m right there with you Jackie. It’s much easier to change a hacked password than a face! And just imagine the number of people who won’t file their tax returns just to avoid having to provide their mug shot!