I recently placed a freeze on my credit with the three credit bureaus . Do I need to lift the freeze in order to efile my taxes ?

[hbl3973]

asmithbutler5,

If you simply mean that you will efile and pay with a credit card, you will not need to lift the credit freeze(s) to efile taxes.  The IRS doesn't check your credit and Intuit (TurboTax) would only charge your credit card, it does not open any new credit accounts on your behalf.  This would also be true if you opt to use the TurboTax Refund Advance service which at least claims to have no impact on your credit.  (https://turbotax.intuit.com/refund-advance/)  I do not know whether you have an arrangement with your credit card company that you must approve payments to new payees, but that should be the only impediment.

[DanaB27]

No, you don't need to lift the credit freeze to e-file your return. But if you reported identity theft to the IRS then you need your Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) to e-file your return.

[hbl3973]

DanaB27,

With regards the refund advance option, could you check into that?  While the TurboTax website says there is no credit impact, a deeper look at the procedure described there does have the taxpayer open a Credit Karma checking account.  In my experience, any attempt to open a new financial account does trigger a credit check, in which case a temporary lifting of a freeze could be required.

[DaraLO]

We recommend contacting Credit Karma to confirm their process for opening a checking account.