Verified by fax: the timeline of a tax check that was never wired in

The IRS holds the one record that could confirm whether a relief applicant earned what they claimed. For two decades, getting it has meant a signed consent form and a fax. This traces every legislative and executive decision that kept it that way — from the 1976 law that walled the data off, through CARES letting SBA approve disaster loans without a tax return, to a real-time API that launched on its January 2023 deadline with individual transcripts only (the business-transcript half left at least six months behind) and usable only by the 6.6% of IVES taxpayers who had the IRS online account it requires. In between, COVID-EIDL closed with an IRS tax-request document in the file for 48% of its 3.7 million approved loans.

Congress wanted the money out fast, so it let SBA approve disaster loans on a credit score alone, without requiring a tax return — then ordered the IRS to build a real-time replacement, funded it with a fee that expired before delivery, and let the agency make the finished system optional.