Tag: identity

Return Accepted But No Refund? IRS Identity Verification (5071C) Is the Likely Reason in 2026

You filed on time, got the "return accepted" confirmation, and settled in for the standard three-week wait. It's now been well past 21 days, Where's My Refund (WMR) hasn't budged, and you're wondering where your money is. In 2026, the single most common reason for this exact pattern is an…

Hacking Social Security Numbers and How to Protect Your Identity

According to a recent journal article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it is possible to use publicly available data on state and date of birth to predict someone's Social Security number, particularly if they were born after 1988 and in smaller states. The ability to…