Is the IRS really demanding birth certificates and social security cards for dependents now?

Tax professional here. This sounds highly suspicious. The IRS does NOT require tax preparers to collect and maintain copies of birth certificates, school records, or utility bills for regular tax filing purposes. What your preparer might be referring to (but explaining poorly) is that the IRS has been increasing due diligence requirements for certain tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit, and American Opportunity Credit. Tax preparers need to verify eligibility, but this typically involves asking questions and documenting responses - not collecting and storing your actual sensitive documents. Your preparer should only need to see these documents to verify information, not keep copies. At most, they might need your Social Security numbers (not copies of the cards themselves) and possibly proof that children live with you for certain credits. But birth certificates and school grades? That's excessive and unnecessary. I'd recommend asking your preparer specifically which IRS requirement necessitates collecting these documents. If they can't provide a specific regulation or form, consider finding a new preparer who follows proper practices.

This sounds exactly like what I went through last month! My preparer was asking for all these documents too, and I was super uncomfortable with it. I did some research and found this tax document analysis service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me figure out what was really required vs what wasn't. You basically upload your tax documents and it analyzes what's actually needed for your specific situation. It flagged immediately that birth certificates aren't standard IRS requirements for normal filing. The service explained that while preparers need to verify certain information for tax credits (especially EITC), they shouldn't be keeping permanent copies of your sensitive documents. I showed my preparer the analysis results and he backtracked real quick, saying he was just being "extra careful." Yeah right.

I was skeptical about using an online service at first, but I tried taxr.ai after reading about it here, and it was actually super helpful. My tax guy was also asking for way more documentation than necessary, including my kids' medical records (!) which seemed totally excessive. The service pointed me to the actual IRS publications about documentation requirements for dependents. Turns out preparers should only be asking for the minimum necessary to establish eligibility for specific credits. For most people, that's just SSNs and maybe school records to verify residence, but definitely not keeping permanent copies of birth certificates or medical information. I printed out the relevant IRS guidelines and brought them to my appointment. My preparer immediately changed his tune and said he was just trying to be "thorough." I'm still switching to someone else next year, but at least I got through this filing season without compromising my family's privacy.

I had a similar situation and tried calling the IRS directly. After spending DAYS trying to get through (busy signals, disconnections, eternal hold times), I finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was honestly shocked it worked. The IRS agent confirmed that tax preparers do NOT need to collect and store copies of birth certificates, social security cards, or utility bills for standard tax preparation. They explained that preparers only need to verify certain information if you're claiming specific credits, but even then, they shouldn't be keeping permanent copies of your sensitive documents. When I confronted my preparer with this official information directly from the IRS, he backed down immediately. Saved me from handing over all that personal info AND from potentially needing to find a new preparer last minute during the busy season.

I need to apologize to everyone here. After my skeptical comment, I actually tried Claimyr out of desperation (been trying to resolve an issue with my transcript for weeks). To my absolute shock, I was talking to an IRS representative in under 20 minutes. I asked specifically about documentation requirements for tax preparers, and they confirmed what others have said here - preparers should only need to verify your information, not keep permanent copies of sensitive documents like birth certificates or social security cards. The agent explained that while preparers have due diligence requirements for certain credits, there's a big difference between verifying information and collecting/storing copies of your personal documents. She suggested that if a preparer insists on keeping copies, you should ask for their written information security policy and consider reporting them to the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility. I'm still processing how I got through so quickly after weeks of trying, but I'm glad I did. Saved me from having to hand over unnecessary documents to my preparer too.

My sister works at H&R Block and says this is absolutely NOT standard practice. She said they only need to see (not keep) certain documents to verify eligibility for specific credits like EITC or Child Tax Credit. For normal tax filing, they need: - SSNs for you and dependents (viewing the cards is sufficient) - Maybe school records or medical records to verify residency for certain credits - Income documents (W-2s, 1099s, etc.) She said they NEVER keep copies of birth certificates or social security cards - that's a massive security risk and violates their company policy. Most reputable tax prep companies have similar policies. Your tax guy is either misinformed or intentionally misleading you. Either way, I'd find someone else.

Just want to add one thing - while the IRS doesn't require tax preparers to collect and keep all those documents, they ARE cracking down on improper claims for certain credits, especially EITC and Child Tax Credit. Your preparer might be overreacting to these increased due diligence requirements. Some preparers can be fined if they file returns claiming these credits without proper verification, so some are going overboard with documentation. But "verification" doesn't mean "keeping permanent copies." At most, they should be documenting that they've seen proof of eligibility. If your preparer insists on keeping copies, ask specifically how they'll secure this information and how long they'll retain it.