WHO ARE YOU: Passports and Tax Documents as Identification Documents

WHO ARE YOU: Passports and Tax Documents
This is a wonderful piece of identification to have, but getting one in a name other than Person of Record's is a high-risk venture. In the post-911 world, passports fall under the auspices of Homeland Security, and passport fraud is a matter taken very seriously. But even if you have no intention of traveling internationally, it's still a good idea to have one.
When Person of Record needs ironclad, government-minted identification, a passport is the most privacy-friendly of all, since it does not show your Social Security number or street address. Although driver's license information is entered into numerous databases, passport numbers are not commonly circulated and pretty much stay with the federal government.
The downside: all passports contain biometric chips. These chips hold (or soon will) a digitized image of your fingerprints and passport photo, as well as whatever else the government has managed to dream up. Retina scan? Semen sample? This is another good reason why a passport should be sought only in the name of Person of Record. How could you possibly explain a perfect match between Elmer Fudd's passport biometrics and those of your Person of Record-- without employing some far-flung "parallel universe" theory? Not going to happen...
While not normally thought of as "ID", tax documents can be effective personal identification for a Virtual Self, and are particularly useful for "proving" the bona fides of a freshly-created LLC (Limited Liability Company. More on this later). If you go to the IRS's website (or a nearby office) official, impressive-looking forms are yours for the asking-- W2's. 1040's, 1099's.... whatever. Fill them out in any name you choose (got an old-school typewriter handy?) then plug in any numbers which reinforce whatever point you're trying to make. As long as these forms are never filed, they're mere pieces of paper. If it suits your identification needs, why not have your LLC issue W-21’s to its "employees"-- your virtual selves? Keep one folded in your wallet.