On September 25 the IRS announced that a new app, called simply the IRS app, replaces IRS2Go. The app is free on the Apple App Store and Google Play, and its listed services include checking a refund, viewing an available balance and retrieving an Identity Protection PIN. Five more services round out the eight the agency lists.
Eight services in release IR-2026-114
The agency’s news release IR-2026-114 lists these functions:
- Check refund and amended-return status.
- View available balance information.
- Make payments and review payment activity.
- View select notices and letters.
- Access available tax records and transcripts.
- Manage certain profile and communication preferences.
- Access an Identity Protection PIN.
- Access free filing resources, a feature retained from IRS2Go.
IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano is quoted in the release: “The new IRS app puts more services at taxpayers’ fingertips.” The release also repeats a standing warning that the IRS will not ask taxpayers to provide sensitive personal or financial information through an unsolicited text, email or pop-up message.
A rename, in the IRS’s own account of it
The practical question for a household with IRS2Go on a phone is what changes. Neither page read says what happens to an installed copy of the old app or its store listing, and neither gives a retirement date, so the safest reading is the agency’s own: a new name with the old services carried over.
The IRS app page, updated September 30, 2026, says the app was formerly called IRS2Go. It adds that “the name changed and new features have been added, but all previous services are still available.” The release says the app replaces IRS2Go and gives no date on which the old name stops working.
The same page explains who needs an account. Some features work as a guest, including payments and free file resources. Tax information requires signing in or creating an account. The app is offered in English or Spanish, and the page warns against downloading apps from advertisements or unsolicited messages.
What an Identity Protection PIN is, and who asks for it
Among the eight services, the PIN is the one with the most rules around it. The IRS’s page on the identity protection PIN, updated August 4, 2026, describes it as “a six-digit number that prevents someone else from filing a tax return using your Social Security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).”
Anyone with an SSN or ITIN who can verify identity is eligible to enroll. A PIN is valid for one calendar year, a new one is generated every year, and it is generally viewable in an online account from mid-January through mid-November. The page is blunt about one point: “The IRS will never ask for your IP PIN. Phone calls, emails or texts asking for your IP PIN are scams.” That page does not mention the app, so the app’s PIN retrieval is known only from the release.
The IRS page lists three routes to a PIN: the online account, a paper request, and an in-person visit. A taxpayer without online access can submit Form 15227 if adjusted gross income is below $84,000 for an individual or $168,000 for married filing jointly, with processing “usually within four to six weeks.” An in-person appointment at a Taxpayer Assistance Center usually takes about three weeks.
Refund status: when it appears and what the tools ask for
For a taxpayer waiting on a refund, the app puts the status check on a phone. The IRS’s refunds page, updated June 28, 2026, says status is available 24 hours after e-filing a current-year return, 3 days after e-filing a prior-year return and 4 weeks after filing a paper return. It expects an e-filed return to produce a refund in about 3 weeks and a mailed return in 6 or more.
Amended returns have their own tracker, which the refunds page says is reachable through an online account. The tracking tools ask for the exact refund amount, the Social Security number or ITIN, the filing status and the tax year. Phone lines remain for those who skip the app: 800-829-1954 for refunds and 866-464-2050 for amended returns.
A new name for scammers to borrow
Any rename invites imitators, and the IRS has said so in two places. The release says the agency will not request sensitive personal or financial information in an unsolicited text, email or pop-up, and the app page says the IRS never asks for personal information that way. A taxpayer who wants the app should therefore start from the IRS’s own page, which links the Apple and Google stores, instead of from an advertisement.
The September 25 release, numbered IR-2026-114, is the agency’s record of the change, and the September 30 app page is its current description of what the app does and how it is entered.
After the refund status check in the new IRS app
The app’s refund and amended-return status check tells a taxpayer where a refund stands. The IRS pages describing it do not say why a refund stalled or shrank.
The IRS Refund Recovery Kit includes a refund status tracker spreadsheet and a notice decoder, for keeping a refund’s status and the notices that follow in one place.
Click here to get The IRS Refund Recovery Kit →
This article was written with AI assistance and checked against the IRS pages linked in the text.
