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In order to get a transcript of my IRS account, I have set up an ID.me account and am up to the step of submitting a photo as part of verifying my identity. It appears that ID.me and/or the IRS asks credit bureau(s) for information. I have security freezes on all 3 major credit bureaus. I am wondering: Do I need to temporarily lift my freezes for all 3 credit bureaus, or just, say, Experian? If anyone has experience (e.g lifting just Experian but keeping in force Equifax and Transunion and having it succeed or fail) or otherwise knows how the process works, that would be very helpful. (Notes: One article on VA.gov seems to imply that the VA uses Experian, but nothing is obvious and it also may not be similar for the IRS; that article also seems to imply that a one-time PIN can be obtained if there is a security freeze, but I'm guessing that that only works for the VA, not the IRS. The ID.me / IRS process is described at https://help.id.me/hc/en-us/articles/4402761436823-IRS-How-do-I-verify-my-identity-for-the-IRS- ; it looks like the process is new as of November 2021 as per https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-unveils-new-online-identity-verification-process-for-accessing-self-help-tools )

RsrchAll
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    Credit pulls for identity confirmation are usually soft pulls, don't appear as inquiries on your report, and are not blocked by credit locks. – littleadv Dec 26 '21 at 05:23
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    @littleadv Irrelevant. If you have your credit frozen, id.me will be unable to confirm your identity online. The question of which credit bureau(s) must be unfrozen for id.me remains. – Ross Presser Mar 27 '22 at 18:46
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    @rosspresser: The answer appears to be "none", because the premise appears to be incorrect. – keshlam May 20 '23 at 23:04

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I found a discussion on another website where a few people who had their credit frozen on all 3 credit bureaus were able to sign up for ID.me for IRS purposes. I assume that applies to obtaining transcripts as well.

RsrchAll
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  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Dec 25 '21 at 23:58
  • @rscrchall Without the actual discussion link, we can't evaluate whether we need to unfreeze or not. – Ross Presser Mar 27 '22 at 18:47
  • I too am locked down hard at FOUR credit bureaus in the US (yes, there's at least one minor player in addition to the big three), yet had no trouble signing up for ID.me. I think we can conclude that the premise of the question is simply wrong, unless and until someone can cite a specific instance where they DID have to unlock for confirmation. – keshlam May 20 '23 at 04:04