The Internal Revenue Service just issued a warning that scammers may try to use the April 18 tax deadline to prey on hardworking taxpayers by impersonating the IRS and others with fake phone calls and emails. By phone, many scammers are using threats to intimidate and bully you into paying a “tax bill.” They may even threaten to arrest you, deport you, or revoke your driver’s license if they do not get the money they demand.
Scam artists are masquerading as being from the IRS, a tax company and perhaps a state revenue department. By e-mail, they will try to entice you to click on links of official-looking messages containing questions related to your tax refund. Report these e-mails to phishing@irs.gov. Scammers will call payroll and human resource professionals soliciting W-2 information (read IR-2016-34). They will request that you verify your tax return information over the phone (read IR-2016-40). Or they will pretend to be a tax preparer (read IR-2016-28).
We are sending you this e-alert because we do not want you to fall victim to these scams:
- Identity Theft
- Phone Scams
- Phishing
- Return Preparer Fraud
- Offshore Tax Avoidance Scams
- Inflated Refund Claims
- Fake Charities
- Padding or Falsifying Deductions on Returns
- Excessive Claims for Business Credits
- Falsifying Income to Claim Credits
- Abusive Tax Shelters
- Frivolous Tax Arguments
To read about these scams in detail, and for tips on how to avoid them, please click here.
Sources
LISI Income Tax Planning Newsletter #92 (April 13, 2016) at http://www.leimbergservices.com Copyright 2016 Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). Reproduction in Any Form or Forwarding to Any Person Prohibited – Without Express Permission.
