Scams, Identity Theft, and the IRS

Everyday, criminals are creating new ways to scam people. Most people know the “Nigerian email scam” and the email from a friend who is stuck on a vacation with no wallet (mugged) and needs money wired to them. A newer scam is the calls from your internet provider informing you of viruses and asking for access to your computer.

What do these have to do with taxes? If the criminal gets your social security number, he might try to file a fake return and take the refund.  If you feel you have been a victim of any scam which has compromised your social security number, complete IRS form 14039 immediately.  This can be found at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14039.pdf.  It must be faxed or mailed to the IRS.  There is a taxpayer’s guide to identity theft at www.irs.gov/uac/Taxpayer-Guide-to-Identity-Theft.

There is also a new scam for 2014. Someone calls impersonating an IRS agent and even provides a false IRS badge number and sometimes your social security number. The criminal then tells you that you must pay your taxes immediately via credit card over the phone.

The IRS does not take credit card payments over the phone and they do not initiate communications via phone nor email.  They initiate communications through US mail. The proper response to a phone call like this is to hang up. If you are in on-going communications with the IRS over an audit or collections effort, you should call your tax professional or the agent (if you are representing yourself) and let them know what happened.

Many people are getting IRS letters regarding identity theft. These include letter 5071C asking a taxpayer to verify their ID and letter 4883C requesting additional information.  Respond to these letters via mail or phone but verify the phone number on the IRS website.  You can also have an enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney help you with the letters.  

You may also receive a letter from your state’s department of revenue.  If you are uncertain about the communications, go to the state website (www.mass.gov/dor for Massachusetts) and use the phone numbers and mailing addresses on that site to correspond. Again, you can always seek help from a tax professional. You can get more information on identity theft for Massachusetts at http://www.mass.gov/dor/individuals/identity-theft-information/.

There are even situations where people pose as tax preparers to scam money. This is another reason to use certified or licensed tax professionals.  These are enrolled agents, CPAs, and tax attorneys.  Better safe than sorry.

Beth Logan is an Enrolled Agent for Kozlog Tax Advisers in Chelmsford.  She can be reached at info@kozlog.com.