Tax fraud involving identity theft is big business. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wants to help you understand your risks, and be proactive in preventing others from gaining access to your tax ID and data. An initiative from the Security Summit is encouraging business owners and eligible taxpayers to opt into a security program offered by the…
Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information, such as your Social Security number (SSN), to file a tax return. Although tax identity theft is less prevalent than other types of identity theft, it can still cause some major headaches and take some time to resolve. To help reduce your chances of becoming…
You just opened your mail and discovered that you have received an IRS Letter 5071C for the previous tax year. Confused, you read the notice a few times over and still cannot seem to wrap your mind around it. You did not file a tax return for the 2020 tax year, so why would the…
IRS launches Identity Theft CentralFocuses on needs of taxpayers, tax professionals and businesses The Internal Revenue Service today launched Identity Theft Central, designed to improve online access to information on identity theft and data security protection for taxpayers, tax professionals and businesses. Located on IRS.gov, Identity Theft Central is available 24/7 at irs.gov/identitytheft. It is a…
A recent study confirmed that over 16 million people were the victims of identity theft in the span of one year in America alone, which resulted in $16.8 billion in stolen money. Identity theft is dangerous to your wallet and to your credit. Identity thieves use your information to take out loans, obtain credit cards, make purchases,…
I thought it would be a good idea to discuss an issue that affects many taxpayer returns, namely the IRS processes for identifying and stopping refund fraud. Attempted refund fraud has become a significant problem in our tax system. According to the most recent figures available, in the calendar year (CY) 2016, identity theft (IDT),…
The IRS established the Taxpayer Protection Program (TPP) to proactively identify and prevent the processing of identity theft tax returns and assist taxpayers whose identities are used to file such returns. However, as part of the TPP process to identify potential identity theft returns, many legitimate taxpayer returns are also selected. When this happens, it…
Combating identity theft is a top priority, and across the IRS many important steps are being taken to fight it. A key part of this involves the Security Summit Initiative, a unique partnership between the IRS, state revenue departments and the private-sector tax industry leaders. This unprecedented Security Summit Initiative is the first public-private partnership…
The Internal Revenue Service and its in-house watchdog the National Taxpayer Advocate’s office are debating the future of the agency and how that will affect us and our filings in the coming years. The IRS is working on what it calls its Future State plan, an outline of agency activities in five years and beyond.…
The information being stolen is a big problem for taxpayers. At first, they thought that this was only a rumor until the rumors became reality when the IRS was staggered by a number of complaints from taxpayers, stating that they were somewhat abused by criminals who are using their own tax identities for an unrighteous…
