Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and ID.me – ID.me Help Center

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) works with ID.me to provide authentication and identity verification. This article explains how to verify your identity for TTB.

Note: For information on TTB specific issues, visit TTB support resources.

About the verification process

ID.me’s next-generation identity platform meets the highest federal standards for online identity proofing and authentication. During the verification process, you will be asked to share your information.

In addition, ID.me has built rigorous security and privacy requirements into our technology. Learn more about ID.me’s Privacy Bill of Rights and how your information is protected.

Before you verify

To verify your identity, you’ll need to provide specific information and up-to-date documents. We recommend gathering any necessary documents before you begin the verification process. To verify, you’ll need:

A mobile phone that has a camera or a computer with a webcam
Email address
Government-issued photo ID (driver's license, passport, passport card, or state ID)
U.S. phone number
Current U.S. address
Social Security Number

How to verify

Follow the steps below to verify your identity.

Note:If you live outside of the United States and don’t have a US phone number, mailing address, or Social Security number, you can still verify your identity. During the verification process, you can select specific links if you don’t have US-based information.

1. Start with TTB

To begin, visit my.ttb.gov, go to the application or service you need, then select Sign in with ID.me.

2. Sign in or create an ID.me account

If you have an ID.me account, sign in using your email address and password. You may already have an ID.me account if you created one for another ID.me partner or for an ID.me community, such as a nurse or military.

Note: Do not create more than one ID.me account. For more information, visit Can I have more than one ID.me account?

If you don’t have an ID.me account, create one to continue. To create a new ID.me account:

Enter your personal email address and password, then select Create account.
Confirm your email address. For more information, visit Confirming your email address.
Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) to further protect your account. For more information, visit Getting started with MFA.

Tip: If you’re setting up MFA for the first time, make sure to save or download your recovery code to ensure you always have access to your ID.me account.

3. Verify your identity

You can start with self-service or verify your identity on a video call. For video calls, you will need to upload a government-issued photo ID or primary and secondary identity documents. Select the tab below for steps for each option:

To verify your identity using self-service:

Note: For information on how to verify your identity if you don’t live in the United states, visit What if I don’t live in the United States?

Choose how to verify your identity. You can upload a photo of your driver's license, state ID, passport, or passport card.
Take and submit a video selfie. If you’re taking a selfie using your smartphone and don’t have a US phone number, select I don’t have a US phone number.

Enter all other requested information, including your Social Security Number. If you don’t have a Social Security number, select I don’t have a Social Security number.
Review and confirm to make sure all your information is accurate, then select Yes at the bottom of the screen. If you don’t have a US address, select I don’t have a US address.
Select Allow and continue to finish your identity verification process.

After ID.me verifies your identity, you will receive a confirmation text message as a way to protect you from fraud.

The steps to verify on a video call include uploading government-issued photo ID, then connecting with a video agent. To verify your identity on a short video call:

Enter your information

Select Video Chat Agent, then select Continue.
Select Get Started, accept ID.me's consent to collect personally identifiable information, then select Continue.
Follow the prompts to upload your US driver’s license or state photo ID, or select Change Document to upload a passport or passport card. You can take a photo of the document with your smartphone or upload one from your computer.

Note: If you’re not able to verify using the documents above, you will need to verify on a video call using primary and secondary documents.
Enter your remaining information, including your Social Security number, then select Continue. Learn why ID.me asks for your Social Security number.

Connect with a Video Chat Agent

During the call with your Video Chat Agent, the agent will compare you to your uploaded identity document. To connect to a live call:

After your information is confirmed, you will be prompted to join a video call. Select Join video call to proceed.
Wait for the next Video Chat Agent to be available.

Consent to having your call recorded, then select Join video call when prompted. You may request that ID.me delete your Biometric Data at any time.
Stay on the call as the Video Chat Agent compares you to your identity document photo. This should only take a moment.

Note: After you verify your identity with a Video Chat Agent, you will receive an email with important next steps.

After you verify

After you verify your ID.me account, you can sign in to your myTTB account by selecting Sign in with ID.me.

Manage your ID.me account

After creating your ID.me account, you can also manage your account settings.

Account settings

Change or add email addresses to your account.
Reset your password.
If you can’t access your ID.me account email address, need to reset your password, or see an error message, visit I can't sign in to my account.

Multi-factor authentication

Learn more about Getting started with multi-factor authentication.
If you’re having trouble, visit Troubleshooting multi-factor authentication.