In July, the IRS issued the final rules allowing most payee statements issued either in paper or electronically to use a truncated Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number. So, it would be XXX-XX-1234, or ***-**-1234. The issuer’s TIN can’t be truncated and no truncation is allowed on the forms that go to the IRS – only to the payees. And, because of statutory wording, no truncated TIN on a Form W-2, something that about 85% of individual filers receive.

So, this is a good step among many in trying to reduce the ease of identity thieves obtaining your tax ID number. But it is not enough. Consider the following:

• Unlike truncating on receipts for credit or debit card purchases, truncating tax IDs on Read More