If you are a Pennsylvania taxpayer and are requesting a refund on your Pennsylvania personal income tax return, please be on the lookout for a PA ID Validation letter to be issued to you requesting an action be performed to confirm your identity before the refund will be issued. The PA Department of Revenue is using these letters as a tool to protect taxpayers and prevent others from trying to file a false tax return in their name.
There are three types of ID validation letters that may be issued by the Department. Please note these are time sensitive and action will need to be taken within 65 days from the date on the letter. If action is not taken in this timeframe, it will be considered an automatic fail which cannot be reset by the Department and the refund will be denied.
ID Verification Notice – This notice will contain a unique code that you will need to verify on the PA website myPATH. Once there, you will go to the “Refunds” tile and select “Enter Verification Code.” In order to complete the request, you will need your notice on hand and your PA-40 from the tax period indicated on the letter.
ID Verification Quiz – Once again, you will be required to log onto the PA website myPATH. Once there, go to the “Individuals” tile and select the “Take ID Verification Quiz.” In order to take the quiz, you will need the ID verification letter, your PA-40 from the tax period in question, as well as any additional documentation listed on the “What you need to do” section of the ID notice received.
ID Validation Unsuccessful – This notice informs you that the PA DOR previously contacted you to validate your identity. The purpose is to tell you that validation has failed. According to the Department, the reason may be a quiz failure or expiration. Alternatively, the unsuccessful validation may be due to the fact that the Department simply does not have enough historical data on file to generate a quiz or code request. If this notice is triggered, the Department will require you to submit additional documentation. The notice will list any additional documentation that is required in the “what you need to do” section. You can submit the documents in one of four ways: 1.) Use the myPATH website, then go to the "Submissions” tile, then select the ”Respond to a letter” link where you will enter the Letter ID listed on the notice. Then you will be prompted to upload the necessary documents. 2.) Email the documents to RA-RVPITFRAUD@PA.GOV 3.) Fax to 717-705-4614,or 4.) Mail to, Bureau of Individual Taxes, Fraud Detection and Analysis, P.O. Box 280607, Harrisburg, PA 17128.
If you have any questions, or have received a letter and need help completing the request, please reach out to your Sisterson tax department practitioner.