Irs the information you have entered does not match our records please try again

If you want to set up an online account with the IRS, good luck. Prepare to swear.

And even if you manage to authenticate your information and set up an account, the platform is so glitchy that you might end up getting locked out. Then the taxing agency will have to send you an activation code through the U.S. Postal Service — making you wait up to 10 days to get your account unlocked — although the IRS already has your email address and cellphone number and could simply email or text message you to verify your identity, much like a bank or brokerage.

I’m calling this column “Hot Mess Part 2,” because many taxpayers just can’t take it anymore. I recently wrote about the abysmal record of the IRS at picking up the telephone when taxpayers call. So now let’s talk about the agency’s antiquated online account system for taxpayers.

My husband and I have been trying to fix some errors the IRS made while reviewing our 2018 joint return. As part of our response to the agency, we wanted to double-check some information by accessing our online accounts. I could get into mine. My husband could not. The portal said it couldn’t verify his identity. This has happened before.

“The information you entered does not match our records,” a red-colored notice on the site said. “Please verify your information and try again.”

Ugh!

So, we had to request an activation code be mailed — again. Turns out it didn’t matter because neither his account nor mine had the information we needed.

What’s so maddening about the failures of the individual online account portal is that the IRS can’t handle the volume of phonecalls from the pandemic-related surge in taxpayer issues. But if the agency had a better online platform, many people might be able to resolve tax problems on their own, if they could just get to the information the IRS has on them, says Erin Collins, the national taxpayer advocate.

Because of outdated technology systems, the IRS operates a largely paper-based system, requiring taxpayers to keep copies of paper correspondence or use a patchwork of electronic applications to gather necessary information, Collins complained in her 2020 report to Congress.

“Due to years of limited funds, the IRS has only been able to add some online services in a piecemeal fashion,” Collins said. “Taxpayers deserve better service from the IRS.”

Here’s a statistic from Collins’s midyear report to Congress, released last week, that won’t come as a surprise to many people who have tried and failed to set up an individual online account.

Most taxpayers who try to establish accounts fail because they cannot pass the e-authentication requirements. The authentication rate for IRS online applications was 42 percent in fiscal2020, according to Collins’s report. In other words, fewer than half of the taxpayers who tried to set up online IRS accounts were able to convince the agency of their identities.

And clearly more people want to help themselves. The IRS had 9.5 million unique users access its individual online account platform in fiscal 2021 through May, more than double the previous period.

“Taxpayers’ inability to establish and use online accounts renders the accounts meaningless,” Collins said.

Then there is the functionality of the accounts, which is exasperatingly limited. You may find you can’t view notices the IRS has sent. There is no place where taxpayers can view all their consolidated information.

You can’t see an actual copy of the tax return you filed. The only way for the taxpayer to view a copy of what they filed is to mail a request to the IRS, pay a $43 fee, and wait up to 75 days, Collins points out. And given the backlog of processed returns, that time frame is optimistic.

“Effective self-service tools with specific account details will help save scarce IRS resources,” Collins wrote. “However, to be effective, the IRS needs to offer online services that taxpayers find to be beneficial and easy to use.”

Understandably, the agency should be protecting taxpayer information. A robust authentication system is necessary. But when more than half of the people trying to set up an account are rejected, that’s a horrendous record.

“For individuals and businesses that have been banking online for two decades or more, the contrast between their online bank accounts and an online IRS account is stark,” Collins said.

At the very least, a better online portal would free up IRS employees to answer their phones, which presumably means they would hear less profanity on the other end of the line.

You're sure you qualify for this second round of stimulus checks, but the IRS and Treasury Department have been making payments since the end of December and you still don't have your $600 check. You've estimated how big a payment you should expect, figured out how the IRS calculates your stimulus money and you've read up on what happens after Congress' Jan. 15 cutoff for the IRS and Treasury to send payments. 

But you've still not received your stimulus money, either to your bank account through direct deposit or in the mail as a paper check or an EIP card.

If you've tried to use the IRS's Get My Payment app to check on the status of your payment, maybe it's not telling you anything useful -- or anything at all. Here are some possible solutions we've discovered from the first and second stimulus checks. And here's what's happening now with the debated third stimulus check for $2,000.

The IRS doesn't have enough information on you

The IRS said if the Get My Payment tool isn't sharing useful information about the whereabouts of your check, it may not have enough information about your specific circumstance, especially if you didn't file a 2019 tax return, didn't use the Non-Filers tool by Nov. 21, 2020 or don't receive federal benefits. You'll need to use the Recovery Rebate Credit as part of Tax Season 2020 to file a claim for your missing money.

Try using another browser with Get My Payment

With the first check, we heard from several readers that accessing the IRS' Get My Payment tool from a different browser than the one originally used could be the key to success to using the service. In particular, some CNET readers pointed out that trying a browser other than Google Chrome worked for them. Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Apple's Safari are common alternatives.

Now playing: Watch this: Second stimulus checks: Everything you need to know

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Enter your address in all caps

Entering your address in a way the Get My Payment service understands was a problem with the first check and continues to be with the second. Some readers reported with the first check filling in the Get My Payment fields using all uppercase letters worked. The IRS said to enter your street address using this format: 123 Main St NW #7 and to not enter the city, state or town on the address line.

You could have typed your information incorrectly; try again

The simplest reason the IRS might not be able to match you with your stimulus payment status could come down to your keyboard. If you accidentally entered a typo, the wrong address or a different name than the government has under your record, the tool may not be able to find you. This one is simple enough to correct -- so try again before assuming the worst.

You checked at the wrong time

The IRS only updates information once a day, overnight, so if you happen to time it before the update comes, you may be out of luck. You can always try again later in the day or keep checking at the same time each day.

You're temporarily locked out of the Get My Payment tool

If you see a cryptic message that only says "Try again later," you might be locked out of the tool. According to the IRS, "If the information you enter does not match our records multiple times, you will be locked out of Get My Payment for 24 hours for security reasons. There is no need to contact the IRS."

Speaking of which, the IRS has a new preference for how you contact it -- no calling. Instead, here's how to go about hunting down your missing stimulus money. For more information about stimulus checks, here's everything else that could hold up your second stimulus payment, and how to claim any missing money after Jan. 15.