The Internal Revenue Service is rethinking a key deadline it had imposed for upgrading security of its e-Services system. Last month, the IRS announced to preparers that they’d have to re-register using the new process no later than Oct. 24.

Now, however, that date has been scrapped – and a new registration timeline hasn’t yet been announced. The IRS says it was done to ensure a smooth transition when the new Secure Access authentication process is ready to go.

“In the next few weeks, the IRS plans to have discussions with key stakeholders affected by the e-Services changes to discuss security protocols and next steps in this process,” an IRS release states. “A new implementation date has not been set. When a new date is set, the IRS will share the information widely with e-Services users.”

Once the programming work is complete, the e-Services servers will be shut down and then restarted using the new authentication software. Secure Access authentication was developed to better verify the identity of registered tax professionals, and thereby foil identity thieves.