The login that wants a credit file you have not had since 2011

Figures relate to tax year 2025-26 (UK) · 2025 (US)

You want to see what you owe. That is the whole ambition, and in America it takes a minute.

From a flat in Bristol the screen asks for a mobile number it can text, a state identity document and a credit record with your name on it.

An online account with the IRS is genuinely useful once it exists. Getting past the identity checks is the obstacle, and there are only three ways round them.

Key takeaways

• Identity checks lean on American credit files and phone numbers.
• A video call with a referee is the usual route to an online account.
• Foreign documents are accepted less often than people hope.
• An authorised agent sees most of the same data without the portal.
• Payments work without an online account, given a US bank.
• Card payments work from Britain and carry a percentage fee.
• Keeping an American mobile number solves several problems at once.

What is the IRS online account?

A portal showing your balance, payment history, notices, payment plans and digital copies of key records. It also holds authorisation requests and your identity protection number. According to IRS guidance on the service, verification happens before any of it appears.

A separate online account exists for businesses, and another for tax professionals.

They verify separately, so success with one tells you nothing about the next.

Why does verification fail from Britain?

Because the automated checks match you against American data that a long term expatriate stops generating. No current credit file, no state licence, no local mobile number. Each failed match drops you into a manual process rather than refusing you outright.

So a failed online account check at the first screen is normal rather than final.

In our practice almost every client fails the automated route.

A worked example

Take an illustrative example. An American in Glasgow wants to check a balance before agreeing a payment plan in 2025.

The automated check fails because her only mobile is British and no credit record exists. She joins the video queue instead.

Forty minutes later a referee reviews her passport and a utility bill, and the account opens. The whole exercise takes an afternoon.

Had she given up at the first screen, she would have waited six weeks for a paper statement.

The three routes compared

How does the video route work?

You join a queue, wait for a human reviewer and show your documents on camera. The reviewer compares the identification against your details and approves the account if satisfied. Waiting times vary enormously by time of day.

Queue early in the American morning for the shortest wait.

Have every document ready, because dropping out means rejoining at the back.

Which documents actually work?

An American passport is the strongest document, even an expired one in many cases. A foreign passport sometimes works alongside secondary evidence such as a bank statement or utility bill. A British driving licence alone rarely satisfies the check.

Bring more than you think necessary.

Reviewers have discretion, and a thin file invites a refusal.

Does the online account need a US phone number?

Not strictly, though almost everything is easier with one. Some verification steps and security codes assume an American number. Internet calling numbers are often rejected because the system screens them out as unreliable.

A cheap American number costs a few dollars a month.

For anybody dealing with the IRS regularly it pays for itself quickly.

What if you never had a social security number?

Then the online account is closed to you, because it verifies against that number specifically. Holders of an individual taxpayer identification number have more limited options. Paper and agent routes remain open and work perfectly well.

Our guide to applying for an ITIN from Britain covers that position.

Check whether the number has lapsed before trying anything else.

Can your accountant see the same data?

Most of it, through an authorisation you sign. One form allows representation while a lighter one permits information access only. Either lets a practitioner pull records through a dedicated channel, usually within days.

The lighter form is enough for checking balances and history.

Our guide to requesting transcripts from abroad covers what comes back.

Can you pay without an online account?

Yes, and this is the point most people actually need. The direct payment service verifies you against a previous return rather than a login, then takes money from an American bank account.

You still tag the payment to a specific year and form.

Our guide to estimated payments from the UK covers the schedule.

What if you have no US bank account?

Card payments through approved processors accept foreign cards, at a cost. For 2025 the fee runs at roughly 1.85% of the amount on a credit card, with a smaller flat charge on debit. A balance of $20,000 therefore carries about $370 in fees.

International wire transfer is the alternative for substantial sums, and banks charge for that too. In percentage terms it usually works out cheaper once the amount runs into five figures.

Banks charge for that too, though usually less in percentage terms.

Does the account show your foreign account reports?

No, because those run on a separate system at a different agency. The tax portal covers income tax matters only, and people worry when the reports appear to be missing.

Keep your own confirmations from the reporting system.

Nothing in the tax portal will ever confirm them.

What about notices and letters?

Recent ones appear digitally, which solves a real problem for anybody abroad. International post is slow and response deadlines rarely allow for it. Seeing a notice the week it issues rather than a month later changes what you can do about it.

That alone justifies the effort of opening the account.

Older correspondence may not appear, so keep the paper you have.

Does it help with a payment plan?

Considerably, because you can set one up online rather than by telephone. The system shows what you owe and proposes terms you can accept immediately. Doing the same by phone means an international call and a long hold.

Our guide to IRS payment plans from abroad covers the terms available.

Set up the plan before interest grows further.

What if you get locked out?

Recovery of an online account runs through the identity provider rather than the IRS itself. A lost phone or a changed number usually means repeating the video verification. Keeping your recovery methods current avoids a repeat of the whole exercise.

Record which email address and number the account uses.

People forget after a year of not logging in.

Is telephone still worth trying?

Sometimes, for questions rather than documents. A dedicated line serves international callers, though it is not free to call and waits run long. Agents can explain a notice or confirm a balance but cannot send anything by email.

Call early in the American day and expect to wait.

Have your identification details ready before dialling.

Does a joint filer need separate access?

Each spouse verifies alone, because the online account is personal rather than shared. A joint return shows on both, though each person has to get through the checks in their own name. One success does not carry the other through.

That doubles the work for a couple filing together.

Start with whichever spouse holds more American documents.

What about a business you own in Britain?

A separate business portal exists, and it verifies the entity as well as the person. An American owning a British company usually has no employer identification number to log in with, so the route often ends there.

Agent access is the realistic answer for company filings.

Our guide to Form 5471 categories covers what those filings involve.

Can you see an old year?

Several years of balances and payments show, though the depth varies by record type. Very old years often appear only through transcripts rather than the main screens. Anything before the last decade usually needs a separate request.

Download what you can see while you have access.

The display changes without notice between releases.

Is the identity provider safe to use?

It is the only route the IRS offers, so the practical answer is that you use it or you file on paper. The provider holds identity documents rather than tax data. Treat the credentials as seriously as online banking.

Use a password manager and a strong second factor.

In our practice account recovery is the single most common complaint.

Does it work on a phone?

There is a mobile friendly version, though the verification step goes far better on a laptop with a webcam. Document photographs need to be sharp, and a phone held at arm length rarely produces that. Use a desktop for the first login.

Afterwards the phone is perfectly adequate for checking a balance.

Keep the second factor on a device you will still own next year.

What records should you keep?

Keep screenshots of your balance and payment history whenever you log in, because access can break and the data matters. Record the email address and phone number the account uses alongside them.

Download any digital notice the day you see it.

Retention on the portal is not guaranteed and nothing is sent twice.

How to open an online account

1. Obtain an American mobile number if you possibly can.
2. Gather your passport, a utility bill and a bank statement.
3. Attempt the automated online account verification once.
4. Join the video queue early in the American morning.
5. Show every document the reviewer asks for.
6. Record the email address and number the account uses.
7. Download your balance and any notices at the first login.
8. Sign an authorisation so your agent has a second route.

Mistakes and penalties we see with an online account

The first is giving up after the automated check fails. That failure is the normal starting point.

The second is using an internet calling number, which the system usually rejects.

The third is assuming foreign account reports appear there. They never will.

The fourth is paying by card without checking the fee, which can cost hundreds on a large balance.

How US UK Tax Accountants helps

We pull client records through the practitioner channel, which sidesteps the identity problem entirely. That gets balances, notices and history within days rather than weeks.

Where a client wants their own access, we tell them exactly which documents the reviewer will want. Our US federal returns service covers the filings that follow.

If you cannot get past the login and a deadline is approaching, get in touch and we will retrieve the position.

Last reviewed 16 October 2026. This article is general information and not personal tax advice. Procedures change frequently, so confirm the current position before relying on it.

For the neighbouring question, The six digits posted every January to a house you sold in 2014 walks through it in detail.