Minnesota moves closer to planning for Real ID

[question everything]

The House passed a bill Tuesday evening to repeal a ban on Minnesota officials researching steps toward complying with a federal law to upgrade driver’s licenses, giving the Department of Public Safety a two-week deadline to report back to the legislature.

The measure will be sent to the Senate for approval before Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign it into law, bringing the state closer to a resolution of a years-long dispute over the federal Real ID Act that was intended to boost national security when it became law in 2005.

The bill, which passed 125-2, maintains a ban on implementing the Real ID law without further legislative action.

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-moves-closer-to-planning-for-real-id/373929641/

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I admit, I did not pay much attention, back in 2009, when our dear Republican house members decided that, hey, we, Minnesotans, will take a stand against the tyrannical federal government now ruled by that "Kenyan Muslim guy"

Never mind that their "stand" would end up interfering with travel arrangements of regular Minnesotans.

I don't know how much it would change the driver's license. When we were ready to file our income tax return on TurboTax, we had to provide not only the license number, and expiration date, but also issue date. And the field was for a full date, while the license only gives month and year, like 04-16. Had to dig back in our checking account to find that date of the application which, of course, is not the date of issuance.

Oh well.

[Downwinder]

1. Guess it is a good thing that I don't have to file.

I don't have a DL.

Making a DL a prerequisite for paying taxes is alright by me.

[progree]

2. I've never been asked to provide my DL by my tax preparer

Last time I saw him was last March. I wonder if he will ask when I see him in a few days.

[question everything]

3. I don't think you need for your (human) tax preparer

But with TurboTax when there have been too many cases of identity theft, and with DL is basically our ID, this was a way to assure that the person filing is indeed the right one.

[dflprincess]

4. Providing Turbo Tax with your DL# was optional

(though they did not make that clear).

I did not add it to my filing with them this year.

[question everything]

6. Oh, I did not realize it

I first had to wait for a multi digit password to be emailed to me and then I had to enter it to continue. I thought that the DL was an extra measure of security. Had to do it for both of us..

[dflprincess]

7. I think they did say the DL was an extra security measure

I just was not comfortable handing it over to them. And, again, it wasn't clear that it was optional. I think I had to click on the help button to get a full explanation of why they were looking for it and decided they had enough of my information already.

[progree]

5. Here's something I found interesting to thwart others filing a tax return in my name

Whether you decide to e-file or paper file, consider obtaining an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) from the IRS. The process for obtaining an IP PIN begins by filing an Identity Theft Affidavit and waiting months to receive your PIN. The form may be found here ( http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14039.pdf?ref=driverlayer.com/web ) . Once the number is issued, it becomes your personal password that must be included on your tax return or the IRS won't process the tax return.

More: Why you should go back to snail-mail to file your taxes this year, Bizjournals.com, 2/6/15
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2015/02/turbotax-intuit-returns-electronic-filing-fraud.html?ana=yahoo

I asked my tax preparer about this last March -- he said they do encryption and use a password made up from a hash of some personal information of mine (he files electronically).

I said what I'm concerned about is somebody filing a false return before mine is filed.

He said it hasn't happened yet in his practice. And he would get it squared away if it does happen.