[ghaff]

You apparently can use a webcam although I assume most people who don't have a smartphone don't have a webcam either.

The reality is that not having a smartphone means it's increasingly difficult to access any number of services.

[AnimalMuppet]

Which is differentially harmful to the poor and the elderly.

You have to provide old-fashioned alternatives to all the new whiz-bang high-tech shinyness.

[joshstrange]

> IRS Will Soon Require Selfies for *Online Access*

Surely the subset of people who want "Online" access and don't have a mobile phone and don't have a webcam is tiny. Those people can use the "Offline" access, whatever that is but I assume there is some system that predates the internet that allows people to get access to their IRS info.

[throwawayboise]

There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of IRS offices across the nation where you can go and deal with them in person. Most towns of any significant size have one. You probably need to make an appointment, etc. but it is still possible to deal with them face-to-face, and once you get in there you are talking to someone who has back-office access not available to the public and are able to deal with a lot of problems (e.g. a mistake on some form, or a missing document) immediately.

[ghaff]

I'm in the US and I don't have an online IRS account. I assume many/most don't.

[joshstrange]

> I'm in the US and I don't have an online IRS account.

Then this change doesn't affect you? What am I missing?

[olyjohn]

It kinda does. It means that if we don't want someone to go in and use our accounts for tax fraud, we have to go in and sign up now to prevent someone from else from signing up as us.

From the sound of it, we just need to find a good 4-8 hours where we can do nothing but verify our identity. Then when that fails, we can spend a bunch of time finding other documents, then show those and hope they work. Hopefully the IRS is open on weekends...

[AnimalMuppet]

Fair point. That pretty much moots my objection.