New York State (NYS) is now making the collection of taxpayers’ driver licenses or other state-issued identification (ID) information on electronically-filed personal income tax returns mandatory to help deter fraud, following the same practice by the IRS.
The fields where the ID information must be input appear in the Authentication Header section of the tax preparation software’s XML, but it is not visible on the return. For licenses or IDs issued by NYS, taxpayers and/or tax professionals preparing returns on their behalf, must also input the document number for either the prime taxpayer or spouse. The document number is specific to each NYS ID and is usually found in the bottom right corner on the front, or on the back of the ID.
If a taxpayer has either a driver license or state-issued ID, the information that must be provided includes the license or ID number; the issuing state; the issue and expiration dates; and, for NYS-issued licenses and IDs only, the document number. If a taxpayer does not have a driver license or state-issued ID, they will have an option to indicate this on their return to satisfy this requirement.
In situations where an extension on a tax return must be e-filed and the ID information is not available, the “No applicable ID” option can be selected. However, once the return is e-filed the driver license or state-issued ID information is required to be submitted.
If you have questions about this new requirement, please contact us, or refer to this New York State Department of Taxation and Finance information sheet.