If you have a Social Security Number, you already have an IRS account. You just have to claim it. Same as your Social Security account at ssa.gov.
Most clients don't realize this. They think the only way to know what the IRS thinks they owe is to wait for a paper notice. Not true. You can log in directly and see your balance, your payment history, every return on file, and every notice they've ever sent you. It takes 15 minutes to set up and saves hours every year.
How to set it up
- 1. Go to irs.gov/account — the official IRS sign-in page. Don't trust any other site that looks similar. The IRS uses ID.me for identity verification.
- 2. Click "Sign in to your Online Account." You'll be routed to ID.me, a third-party identity verification service the IRS contracts. This is normal.
- 3. Create an ID.me account if you don't have one. You'll need your email, a phone that can receive SMS, and a government photo ID (driver's license, passport, or state ID).
- 4. Verify your identity using your photo ID + a selfie video (it sounds invasive — it's required to prevent identity theft). This takes about 5 minutes.
- 5. Link your Social Security Number on the IRS side. Once verified, you're in.
What you can see (and why it matters)
- • Current balance owed. If you owe anything, it's here. Click through for the breakdown by year + penalty + interest.
- • Payment history. Every payment you've ever made — withholding, estimated payments, direct payments. Useful for confirming nothing got lost.
- • Tax records. Transcripts of every return you've filed (wage & income, account, return, record of account). These transcripts are what mortgage lenders, the SBA, and immigration ask for.
- • Notices. Every letter the IRS has sent you, digitized. If you've ever lost a notice, this is where to find it.
- • Direct payment. Pay a balance directly from your bank account with no fees. (Card payments hit you with ~2% fees.)
- • Make a payment plan. If you owe under $50K, you can set up an installment agreement online without ever talking to anyone.
The parallel: SSA account
While you're at it, set up your Social Security account at ssa.gov. Same drill — identity verification through ID.me, then you have access to your earnings record (every job you've ever had + every dollar reported), your estimated future benefit, and the ability to apply for benefits when the time comes. The earnings record is especially important to check — mistakes happen, and once you spot one, you have a limited window to correct it.
What if you get stuck
ID.me verification fails sometimes — bad lighting on the selfie, ID that's hard to read, name mismatch. If it does, you can call ID.me support or do a live video call with a real person to verify. It's annoying but it works. For business accounts (EIN-based), the process is different and slightly clunkier — book a tax review and we'll walk you through it as part of onboarding.
We help every new client set up IRS account access in week 1 of onboarding.
It's the foundation of everything else — payment plans, transcript pulls, audit defense. We can't do our job for you without it.
Book a Tax Review →