name: IRS API FinOps
description: >-
  Financial operations guidance for IRS API consumers. Most IRS APIs are
  provided at no cost as a public service to authorized tax professionals,
  software developers, and financial institutions. The primary cost-bearing
  service is the Income Verification Express Service (IVES) at $4 per
  transcript. Cost management focuses on IVES transcript volume control
  and efficient batch usage of TIN Matching to reduce per-session overhead.
url: https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/get-an-api-client-id
costs:
  - api: IVES
    name: IVES Transcript Fee
    description: >-
      The IRS charges $4 per tax transcript requested through IVES. This
      is the only IRS API with a per-transaction fee. Monthly invoices
      are issued on the 5th of each month for the prior month's usage.
      Payment must be made electronically via credit card or electronic
      funds transfer (EFT) through the IRS.gov payment portal.
    amount: 4.00
    currency: USD
    unit: per transcript
    billingCycle: monthly
    url: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/income-verification-express-service-for-participants
  - api: TIN Matching
    name: TIN Matching - No Cost
    description: >-
      TIN Matching is provided free of charge to enrolled e-Services participants.
      No per-call or per-batch fees apply.
    amount: 0
    currency: USD
    unit: per call
    url: https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/taxpayer-identification-number-tin-matching
  - api: IRIS
    name: IRIS 1099 Filing - No Cost
    description: >-
      The Information Return Intake System (IRIS) is provided free of charge
      to authorized filers and software developers. No per-filing or per-record fees.
    amount: 0
    currency: USD
    unit: per filing
    url: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-opens-free-portal-to-file-information-returns-new-electronic-option-can-reduce-millions-of-paper-forms-1099-estimated-to-be-filed-by-businesses-in-2023
  - api: MeF
    name: MeF Electronic Filing - No Cost
    description: >-
      Modernized e-File (MeF) submission is provided free of charge to
      authorized software developers and transmitters. No per-submission fees.
    amount: 0
    currency: USD
    unit: per submission
    url: https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/information-and-technical-guidance-for-software-developers-and-transmitters
  - api: TDS
    name: Transcript Delivery System - No Cost
    description: >-
      The Transcript Delivery System (TDS) is provided free of charge to
      enrolled e-Services participants such as authorized tax professionals.
    amount: 0
    currency: USD
    unit: per request
    url: https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/get-an-api-client-id
optimization:
  - strategy: Batch TIN Matching
    description: >-
      Use Bulk TIN Matching (up to 100,000 combinations per submission) rather
      than Interactive TIN Matching (25 per session) for large volume validations
      to maximize throughput at no additional cost.
  - strategy: Optimize IVES Transcript Requests
    description: >-
      Since IVES charges $4 per transcript, implement deduplication logic
      to avoid requesting the same transcript multiple times. Cache transcripts
      where appropriate within permitted use cases to reduce total costs.
  - strategy: Monitor Monthly IVES Invoices
    description: >-
      IVES invoices are issued on the 5th of each month. Implement cost
      tracking per IVES participant ID to allocate costs to business units
      or client accounts. Set up alerts if monthly transcript volumes
      exceed budgeted thresholds.
  - strategy: Use IRIS for Free 1099 Filing
    description: >-
      Migrate 1099 series information return filing from the legacy FIRE
      system to IRIS A2A. IRIS is free and the IRS is transitioning
      filers to this platform.