AREAS OF PRACTICE![]() AREAS OF PRACTICE
|
Telephone Scams Tops List of IRS “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams for 2015Each year the IRS publishes a list of what it coins as the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams. The list contains a variety of common tax scams that taxpayers may encounter anytime, although many of the schemes peak during filing season as taxpayers file their returns. Unlike previous years, the IRS is releasing its 2015 “Dirty Dozen” over the course of 12 business days in order to raise consumer awareness. Topping this year’s list is aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents. In the past year there has been a surge of phone scams in which scammers impersonate IRS agents and call taxpayers demanding payment for taxes that are purportedly owed for previous tax periods. As part of the tax scam, the scammers will threaten their targets with levies, arrest, license revocation, and other things if the taxes are not paid immediately. Scammers are able to alter their caller ID numbers to make it look like they are calling from the IRS. They use fake names and bogus IRS badge numbers. The scammers target individuals who are more vulnerable, such as the elderly and recent immigrants. It is not atypical for the scammer to indicate that the taxpayer owes taxes for a previous tax year, and that the phone call is to follow up because the taxpayer victim has not responded to IRS notices that have been sent. If the taxpayer denies that taxes are owed, the scammer may claim that the return was audited, the taxpayer did not report all his income, or the IRS made other changes to a filed return. As part of the tax scam, the person claiming to be from the IRS will demand that his target immediately send a payment or could face levy or arrest. One method of payment the scammer will identify as acceptable is a Green Dot card (similar to a prepaid credit card). The scammer will ask the victim to purchase a prepaid debit card, and transmit the information to the scammer which the scammer will use to drain the funds. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has received reports of roughly 290,000 contacts since October 2013 and has become aware of nearly 3,000 victims who have collectively paid over $14 million as a result of the tax scam, in which scammers make unsolicited calls to taxpayers fraudulently claiming to be IRS officials and demanding that they send them cash via prepaid debit cards. Protect YourselfIt is not difficult to know or discover when a supposed IRS caller is a fake. Any of the following items is a tell-tale sign of a scam: The IRS will never:
If you do get a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, you should:
If you do owe taxes to the IRS and are need of assistance, the attorneys at the Politte Law Offices can help. We will contact the IRS on your behalf to discuss options that may be available, such as being placed in currently not collectible status, or entering into an installment agreement or offer in compromise. Contact us today!
One comment
Leave a Reply |
When are Legal Settlements Taxable?
More often than not, the taxability of an award or legal settlement is not on the forefront of a person’s mind when they are a party to a dispute or a lawsuit. Yet the tax implications of an award or legal settlement are important and should not be ignored, or there may be issues down […]
READ MOREWhat if a Contractor or Vendor Refuses to Provide a W-9 for a 1099?
In our last blog, Filing a Form 1099, we discussed business’s 1099 filing requirements. Here, we will discuss what a business should do if a contractor, vendor, or other person will not provide the information necessary for the business to prepare and file a 1099. If a business (including sole proprietors) pays a contractor, vendor, […]
READ MOREFiling a Form 1099
You have a business, and your business paid an independent contractor, vendor, or other person for services, goods, or rent sometime during the year. Perhaps you paid an accountant to do your bookkeeping, or an attorney to advise you regarding a contract. Maybe you paid someone to do some overflow work for you for a few weeks […]
READ MORE
I have read so many content about the blogger lovers but this post is
actually a nice post, keep it up.