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Hi,
ARE YOU A TAX PROFESSIONAL HAVING TROUBLE LOGGING INTO YOUR PTIN ACCOUNT?
THAT’S YOUR PREPARER TAX IDENTIFICATION NUMBER ACCOUNT.
LET’S TROUBLESHOOT A FEW COMMON LOGIN PROBLEMS.
FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?
IF SO, GO TO IRS.GOV/PTIN AND CLICK ON ANY LINK UNDER “ONLINE PTIN APPLICATION”.
THEN, FROM THE LOGIN PAGE, CLICK ON “FORGOT PASSWORD” UNDER RETURNING USER.
ENTER THE USER ID YOU CREATED WHEN YOU FIRST CREATED YOUR ACCOUNT AND CLICK NEXT.
YOUR USER ID IS PROBABLY YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
THE ONLINE SYSTEM WILL DISPLAY YOUR USER ID ALONG WITH THE SECRET QUESTION YOU SELECTED
WHEN YOU CREATED YOUR ACCOUNT.
ENTER THE ANSWER TO YOUR SECRET QUESTION AND CLICK NEXT.
IF YOU HAVE ENTERED THE CORRECT INFORMATION, WE’LL EMAIL A TEMPORARY PASSWORD TO YOU.
THE TEMPORARY PASSWORD EXPIRES AFTER 24 HOURS SO CHECK YOUR INBOX, INCLUDING YOUR SPAM OR
JUNK FOLDERS, FOR THE EMAIL.
THE BEST WAY TO ENTER THE TEMPORARY PASSWORD IS BY COPYING AND PASTING IT.
TO DO THIS SIMPLY HIGHLIGHT THE PASSWORD, RIGHT CLICK YOUR MOUSE OR
SELECT EDIT ON YOUR TOOLBAR.
THEN SELECT THE “COPY” FUNCTION AND “PASTE” THE TEMPORARY PASSWORD IN THE PASSWORD FIELD
ON THE LOGIN PAGE.
YOU SHOULD NOW SEE A REDACTED COPY OF THE TEMPORARY PASSWORD.
MAKE SURE YOUR USER ID IS ENTERED AND SELECT THE SIGN-IN BUTTON.
AT THIS POINT YOU’RE ASKED TO CREATE A NEW PASSWORD.
BUT BE SURE YOUR PASSWORD MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS LISTED ON THE SCREEN.
ONCE YOUR NEW PASSWORD HAS BEEN ACCEPTED, WRITE IT DOWN AND KEEP IT IN A SAFE PLACE.
BUT WHAT IF YOU FORGOT YOUR USER ID AND IT’S NOT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS?
NO PROBLEM, JUST TAKE SIMILAR STEPS TO RETRIEVE IT.
GO TO THE PTIN SYSTEM LOGIN PAGE, CLICK ON THE “FORGOT USER ID” LINK
UNDER RETURNING USER.
ENTER THE EMAIL ADDRESS USED WHEN YOU CREATED YOUR ACCOUNT AND CLICK THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
THE ONLINE SYSTEM WILL DISPLAY YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ALONG WITH THE SECRET QUESTION YOU
SELECTED WHEN YOU FIRST CREATED YOUR ACCOUNT.
ENTER THE ANSWER TO YOUR SECRET QUESTION AND CLICK NEXT.
IF YOU HAVE ENTERED THE CORRECT INFORMATION, WE’LL SEND YOUR USER ID TO YOUR EMAIL.
ONE LAST TIP.
IF YOU NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE EMAIL ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR PTIN, MAYBE BECAUSE
YOU SWITCHED JOBS OR SWITCHED EMAIL ADDRESSES, YOU CAN SIMILARLY UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
BY FOLLOWING THESE SIMPLE STEPS.
FROM THE PTIN SYSTEM LOGIN PAGE, CLICK ON THE “FORGOT OR CANNOT ACCESS EMAIL” LINK.
THE PTIN SYSTEM WILL ASK FOR YOUR LAST NAME, YOUR DATE OF BIRTH, AND YOUR PTIN
INCLUDING THE “P”.
WHEN YOU ENTER THE CORRECT INFORMATION, THE SYSTEM WILL ASK FOR YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
AND THE ANSWER TO YOUR SECRET QUESTION.
YOU WILL THEN BE ALLOWED TO ENTER A NEW EMAIL ADDRESS TO ASSOCIATE WITH YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT.
BE SURE TO USE AN EMAIL ADDRESS YOU CAN ACCESS REGULARLY.
IF YOU NEED MORE ASSISTANCE, OR FOR OTHER RESOURCES, GO TO IRS.GOV/PTIN.