Never Pay Anyone To Do Your Taxes Unless They Have This Tax ID

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), most people who receive compensation for preparing or assisting in the preparation of federal tax documentation must have a current Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and include this number when signing relevant documents. Exceptions exist; for example, the IRS states if someone needs a tax ID number, another individual can help with their Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number without having a PTIN. That said, you should never pay anyone without a PTIN to handle your taxes.  

A person must be at least 18 years old to receive a PTIN, and this designation cannot be shared by multiple people — even within one office. Active certified public accountants and attorneys do not need to obtain a PTIN if they are not directly involved in federal tax document preparation. 

This identification number must be renewed annually. On October 27, 2025, the IRS issued a reminder to 800,000+ people to renew their PTIN. Tax preparers who don't have a current PTIN can face Internal Revenue Code section 6695 penalties based on the number of violations and are subject to additional disciplinary actions. These penalties are assessed against the tax preparer, not their clients. However, negative consequences are possible if you use a tax preparer without a PTIN, which is why you should confirm that yours has a current one.

Whether using an online tax service or hiring a professional, it's important to select the right tax preparer for your situation. For example, is TurboTax or H&R Block better for your tax preparations? Make a list of possibilities and, after narrowing it down, ask the tax preparer for their PTIN, verifying it through the IRS list of professionals with current PTINs. After you choose someone, only sign your tax returns once they're completed, reading through the document and getting your questions answered. Ensure that the preparation professional signed the return and input their PTIN in the section titled Paid Preparer Use Only. Remember to get a copy of the completed tax returns for your records.

Hiring a professional tax preparer without a PTIN could mean that you've chosen a skilled expert who has forgotten to renew their PTIN application. In that case, although you'd need to check with tax authorities to be sure, the negative impacts would likely affect the professional only. If, however, the person you've hired doesn't have a PTIN because they don't have professional credentials and haven't gone through the Annual Filing Season Program that educates non-credentialed tax preparers, the return may be inaccurately prepared and filed. Mistakes made by the tax preparer could subject you to penalties and interest. In a more drastic scenario, fraudulent tax preparers could cause greater problems, ranging from services not performed to altered records that benefited them rather than you.