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The IRS makes available its Income Verification Express Service (IVES) for “mortgage lenders and others within the financial community to confirm the income of a borrower during the processing of a loan application. The IRS provides return transcript, W-2 transcript and 1099 transcript information…to a third party with the consent of the taxpayer. The transcript information is delivered to a secure mailbox based on information received from a Form 4506-C, IVES Request for Transcript of Tax Return.”
Since 2016, CDIA members and others have had many challenges in accessing IVES. Below is a timeline of events and accompanying documents:
- The IRS replied in November 2020 to CDIA sent letters to the IRS in March and April 2020 on the implementation of Section 2201 of the Taxpayer First Act (TFA) of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-25), and the TFA’s requirement to modernize the Income Verification Express Services (IVES) program.
- In October 2021, CDIA signed a letter with other trades to the IRS requesting that it “stop implementation of section 2201 of the Taxpayer First Act (P.L. 116-25, “TFA”) – modernization of the Income Verification Express Service (IVES) – until a workable solution to critical technical issues, including consumer authentication, can be identified in collaboration with current and future users of the system.”
- In April 2020, the IVES Working Group sent a Response to IRS Independent Cost Estimate Overview. This was in response to a document the IRS presented in March 2020, Provision 2201 Automated IVES Independent Cost Estimate Overview (IT input for potential W&I external communication).
- CDIA sent letters to the IRS in March and April 2020 on the implementation of Section 2201 of the Taxpayer First Act (TFA) of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-25), and the TFA’s requirement to modernize the Income Verification Express Services (IVES) program.
- In July 2019, the IRS IVES Working Group submitted a report to the IRS. This report is to the National Director of Submission Processing in the Wage and Investment Division of the IRS. This report is intended for informational purposes only. This report is not intended to provide consensus advice or recommendations to the National Director of Submission Processing.
- In October 2018, CDIA (along with the Consumer Bankers Association, Consumer Data Industry Association, Consumer Mortgage Coalition, Housing Policy Council of the Financial Services Roundtable, Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National Association of Home Builders) sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. CDIA also submitted its own letter to the Subcommittee. Both letters were in response to a hearing, regarding a September 2016, hearing entitled IRS Taxpayer Authentication: Strengthening Security While Ensuring Access.
- On September 26, 2018, the U.S. House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing, IRS Taxpayer Authentication: Strengthening Security While Ensuring Access. The Subcommittee Chair was U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS). In announcing the hearing, Chairwoman Jenkins said that she wanted the hearing to “focus on how the IRS authenticates taxpayers using online tools and applications, as well as how the agency addresses weaknesses in its authentication process.”
- In February 2018, CDIA (along with the Consumer Bankers Association, Consumer Data Industry Association, Consumer Mortgage Coalition, Housing Policy Council of the Financial Services Roundtable, Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National Association of Home Builders) sent a letter to the House Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees, and a letter to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees.
- In September 2017, CDIA wrote a memo: IRS Form 4506-T: Problems with and Solutions for the Possible Redaction of PII – Sept. 2017. That memo was followed up by a CDIA Letter on the changes to the IRS IVES (Oct. 2017) and CDIA Talking Points Supporting a Delay in IRS Implementation of Income Verification Express Service (IVES) Access Changes (Oct. 2017).
- In October 2016, CDIA sent a letter to the IRS regarding changes to the IRS Income Verification Express Service (IVES).